Who you'd be learning from
Adam NegriReal estate broker, investor & remodeler
What We Do
Venus & Mars is a husband-and-wife team. Adam is a broker, investor, and deal-maker who structures and operates real estate across the country. Michele is a design-builder who leads the design and transformation of every property. Together they handle the whole thing — finding it, structuring it, rebuilding it, and operating it.
In 34 years — since 1992 — I've built a portfolio that moves with the market but never drops below 20 properties across Fairfield County, Connecticut.
I lost everything once. Bankruptcy. Foreclosure. In 2007 I stood at the auction and watched my own home get sold. That moment didn't break me — it woke me up. It made me angry enough to get back up and learn how this business actually works.
It took me ten years to fully get my nerve back. I rebuilt through real estate the slow, real way: ownership, discipline, and fundamentals. Not hype. Not shortcuts. Not some guru's program.
I'm still doing this every single day, and I'm not stopping. I wake up and work because I genuinely love it — not because I'm chasing a lifestyle. This isn't a business for people who want to look rich. It's for people with a real work ethic — the ones who put in the work, stay consistent, and build something over time. I figured out how to do this honestly, and I want to show other people the same thing.
Here's what I believe: someone starting out today, willing to work hard, can buy two properties a year for twenty years. That's forty properties. That can completely change a family's life. You don't need to be flashy. You don't need to be fearless. You just need a reason that matters and the discipline to stay consistent long enough for it to work.
I've been in the trenches — bought a house for five thousand dollars, put deals together when the bank said no, made mistakes that cost me and learned from every one. I'm not selling a theory. I'm sharing the truth, from someone who's still in it.
I've sat in these rooms as a student — I've taken the courses, dealt with the people selling help. I'm building the class I wish I'd found.
If that's the kind of person you want to learn from, you're in the right place.
I'm not a flipper, wholesaler, or influencer.
I structure deals.
If you're a broker who sells real estate but doesn't own any, this is for you. You already know the market — now learn to build wealth from it.
The 8 Units That Changed My Thinking
Most people think you need money to buy real estate. My experience has been the opposite. Years ago, I purchased an 8-unit portfolio in Danbury for $300,000 with only $15,000 to my name. I structured the deal with seller financing and a hard money loan. During the appraisal, the lender realized the property was worth substantially more than the purchase price. He asked me, “Do you have the money to close?” I told him, “No.” He pulled out his checkbook, wrote me a check for $15,000 on the spot, and said, “Go close the deal.” Two weeks later, I owned all 8 units. The property generated over $60,000 a year in positive cash flow and created hundreds of thousands of dollars in equity.
The lesson wasn't that I had money. I didn't. It was that real deals attract capital.
The New Haven Condo
Acquired through a lease option with $10,000 down. I invested $30,000 in renovations, then lease-optioned it to a tenant-buyer for $177,000 with a $17,700 option deposit — over $80,000 in total profit on a $40,000 investment.
The profit came from the structure, not the property.
The $44,000 Concession That Created $250,000 in Value
A national tenant and a local developer were negotiating a 26,000-square-foot build-to-suit project. After months of negotiations, the deal was dead. I was brought in because I had relationships with both parties. The tenant wanted one year of free rent on 11,000 square feet of industrial space — worth about $44,000. The developer refused. After meeting with both sides, I proposed a simple solution: give the tenant the free rent, but in exchange raise the annual rent escalations from 3% to 5% and have the tenant cover taxes, maintenance, and insurance. Both sides agreed. The deal closed. What looked like a $44,000 concession ultimately created more than $250,000 in additional value for the developer.
Don't negotiate what something costs. Negotiate what it's worth.
The $55,000 Facebook Deal
I found a distressed 2-family property in Bridgeport through a Facebook post. The owner, a real estate agent, had a tenant who hadn't paid rent in eight months — and without that income he was covering the mortgage out of pocket and falling behind. After walking the property, I proposed a solution: I took over the existing mortgage using a trust structure, paid the owner $5,000, and spent $2,000 establishing the trust. In return, I asked the owner to release all claims against the non-paying tenant. Once I took over, the problem became mine to solve. I resolved the tenant issue and resold the subject-to deal two months later. Total profit: $55,000.
The bigger the problem, the fewer the buyers — and that's often where the best opportunities are. I don't buy properties. I solve problems. The profit comes from the solution.
From Hurricane Damage to a $3 Million Luxury Property
My wife and I purchased a 2,700-square-foot oceanfront home on a private road for $392,000 after it was heavily damaged by Hurricane Sandy. Most buyers saw a disaster. We saw potential. My wife, a talented design-builder, led a complete transformation — we gutted the home to the block walls, rebuilt the interior from the ground up, redesigned the property, and fully furnished it as a luxury destination rental. Today it commands up to $20,000 a week in peak season and is valued at approximately $3 million.
Value isn't found. It's created.
And I've lost too. In 2007 I lost my personal home to foreclosure.
Today I have five times what I lost in 2007.
The Conversation That Changed My Life
After losing everything through bankruptcy and foreclosure, I found a deal to buy a 14-unit apartment building. We needed bank financing, and I sat in the lender's office with almost no confidence left. The banker pulled me aside and asked what was wrong. I told him the truth. I'll never forget his response: “The only reason you're getting this loan is because of your experience. We're betting on you. Your partners bring money. You bring the knowledge.”
That conversation changed my life. For years I focused on what I had lost. The banker focused on what I had learned. It reminded me that failure doesn't erase experience — and experience creates opportunity. I've carried that lesson into every deal since.
Michele Holmes
Design partner
Behind Venus & Mars is a husband-and-wife team. Michele Holmes is Adam's wife and his partner in this — in life and in the work. With a background in design, architecture, interiors, and landscaping, she's the one who turns a house back into a home while Adam puts the deals together. What you're learning here comes from both of them.
Start with the playbook.