For my students that have been learning from me for the past several years, they already know that you shouldn't build a piece of investment real estate until you're in a hot market.  Otherwise, building will cost you more per square foot than what you can buy it for in a slump market.
 
And that's a complete waste of money!
 
The next huge money-maker is buying raw land and building, especially small multifamily buildings anywhere from "quads" (4-plexes) to 8-unit buildings.
 
These can make you a fortune in this market because now, in many super hot areas, it actually costs less to build than buy a fully occupied multifamily (and even commercial-commercial) property.
 
What's awesome about this strategy is that, once you take a piece of raw land and build, you can quickly lease the units (because they are brand new, there is a higher demand and you can get top rent dollar) but you can "flip" the property to other investors who want the leased-up high-in-demand rental property.
 
In fact, you'll get more money per unit than comparable buildings in the area because the units are brand new and getting more in rent than other units in the same area.
 
Plus, this strategy can put you into Class A and B areas whereas before you were probably only investing in (or considering) Class C and D areas because it was more affordable to get into.
 
I have a new lender that handles financing both raw land and the construction portion of the deal.  A construction loan goes up to 1 year and then you refinance it into a conventional loan after the construction (and lease-up) has been accomplished.
 
Why buy a Class C property when you can buy raw land and build a Class A property that commands top dollar in both rents and cost-per-door when you flip it?
 
There is a specific step-by-step strategy required to make a fortune with this investment methodology.  I've never taught this rare, little-known strategy to any of my students.
 
Even better, this lucrative strategy can be used to build any type of asset class from 8-plex multifamily buildings to a retail strip mall.
 
And no, you don't need to be a contractor to pull this off nor do you need to get ripped off by a GC (general contractor) in most states.  As long as you know the steps, you can contract the job yourself by subbing everything out one piece at a time.
 
Rehab and new construction have always been my favorite method of real estate investing just because it allows you to be creative and to become part of a process in making a nice home for people.  It's the one facet of real estate I enjoy the most, even down to choosing the color of the exterior paint of a building.
 
See you at the top!
 
Your mentor,
 
Monica Main
www.MonicaMain.com
 

What It Means to Be in a New Economy!

Back to School, Hello Fall, and Happy Halloween All in 10 Days!

My daughter started school almost 2 weeks ago and even though technically summer isn't over, it's pretty much over.  Yesterday I walked into Lowe's and saw this 16-foot grim reaper staring straight down at me.  I'm like...WTH??  Didn't we just celebrate the 4th of July?

I bought a 16-foot Grim Reaper at Lowe's the other day.

Strangely enough, when I saw this amazingly tall and oversized blow-up Halloween lawn decoration, it made me smile.  In fact, I couldn't stop smiling when I saw it.  I still can't stop smiling about it.  :-)

You see, I'm a Halloween junkie.  It's my favorite holiday and it's the only one I actually go "all out" with a variety of different blow up "things" in my lawn with the precise intent on showing up my neighbors.  Yet by the time Christmas rolls around, my yard pretty much has nothing to celebrate the overrated retail-money-suck-driven holiday.  Even a Charlie Brown Christmas tree much more than what I do for Christmas.

But Halloween is different.

It's a day where you can do something different...be somebody different.  There's a magical element to that to me, for some reason.
So, there I was at Lowe's, smiling my ass off at a grim reaper that is about as tall as my house, and thinking how freakin' awesome it'll be in my yard since I live at the end of a cul-de-sac.  I stuffed 1 of the last 2 boxed grim reapers they had in stock into my cart while thinking..."Isn't life awesome?!"

Lately the seemingly dumbest things have been making me happy.  And I'm not sure why I was so ecstatic about this grim reaper.  Is it because he's so unusually large in size and I've never seen any holiday yard blow-up thing so cool?  Or is it because I can spend $200 on something so stupid and not think twice about it?  Or because my neighbors will gasp in shock and awe at how awesome it is?  (Nah, I really don't care about them but I do care about the kids gasping and being in awe!  Halloween is for the kids, after all.)

I figured out the real reason why a dumb holiday yard blow-up grim reaper makes me happy.
Because I'm not miserable about anything else.

Yes, that's right.  You read that correctly.

Most people are running around feeling stressed about money, or their job, or their future, or making a mortgage payment, or a variety of different things revolving around "survival" and "trying to make it."  They'd be too stressed out to enjoy something as goofy as an overpriced, oversized lawn decoration.

I've been extremely lucky that I've been able to figure out business and investing early on.  I've been pretty good at bringing in a consistent cash flow into my life from real estate investments, business activity, and even residual income from things I've written.

I had a conversation with a student of mine a short while back.  He has 2 Master's degrees in business, he just turned 50 years old, and his six-figure-annual job just gave him his walking papers because they believe they can hire 2 college kids for a fraction of what they pay him, mold them to their liking, and have another set of slaves for at least 2 1/2 decades when they know they can't get that amount of time out of a 50-year-old.

Now he doesn't know what to do.

This is exactly what I've been talking about when it comes to the "New Economy," folks!  Things just ain't what they used to be anymore.

But guess what?

If you can -- even for a few minutes -- stop thinking like a Paycheck Charlie and start thinking about an entrepreneur, you'll very easily see how this New Economy can work in your favor.

You now can easily make a six-figure-annual income...working 20 hours a week or less and never having to leave your house.

You now can easily take advantage of some incredible loan programs for commercial property allowing you to be a real estate cash flow millionaire by solely using other people's money.

It's all in what you know.

A Paycheck Charlie only knows how to put together a resume and how to start applying for jobs.  He or she also knows how to do reasonably well in an interview, how to get a job, and how to take orders from someone else for 40 hours a week.  He or she knows how to trade hours for dollars.

And that's hard work in my opinion.

Recently I had to do some interviewing myself.  I was replacing 2 employees in my warehouse.  The job pays $11 an hour.

And I had dozens of people with degrees applying for the job.

What??

What the hell is going on here??

It seems that once someone adopts the Paycheck Charlie mentality -- no matter what economic changes occur -- they can't break free of that limited type of thinking.

It's not a matter of deciding to change your thinking process because it might be good for you.

It's a matter of being required to change your thinking process because you don't have a choice anymore.

While people are demanding minimum wage to be raised to $15 an hour, little do the small-minded thinkers realize is that there are shiploads of robots coming in from China as we speak to start replacing these minimum wage workers.

After all, if you owned a McDonald's, what would you rather have:

An employee who not only demands $15 an hour in minimum wage (for very limited skills, mind you, such as mopping the floor and flipping burgers...brainless skill-less activities) but calls in sick, steals, files a Worker's Comp claim for slipping in the back, steals, punches another employee out in the parking lot (and now the other employee is suing you), files a discrimination lawsuit against you, and then slacks off on the job to the point where you have to terminate him...now he's collecting unemployment that you have to pay for!

Or...

"Hire" a robot imported from China which costs you $5,000 plus maintenance including upgrades on software...and that's it.

No salary, no lawsuits, no insurance, no days off, no calling in sick, no hurting other employees, no stealing, no drama...nothing.

It's coming, folks!  If you think I'm joking, just wait around for another couple of years and watch those minimum wage jobs evaporate left and right.

Now, you have another choice...and no, it's not going back to college to get a useless degree to become "educated" so you don't have to sink to the point where you need a minimum wage job.  (Because, after all, I just demonstrated that those jobs are going to be disappearing very soon.)

You have to become "educated" in another fashion.

This is why I love America.  I recognize the never-ending opportunities everyone has here at their fingertips...including you.  Especially you.  Because you're already here!

And if you're reading this, you probably read and speak English well.

Simple elements needed to be highly successful in our New Economy.

I was watching a Secret Millionaire episode recently where I was comparing the difference between the millionaire and the guy who was barely able to make end's meet.

And, as far as I could tell, there was no difference except for one thing:

The millionaire "knew" something about how to navigate through commerce and the other sap had a Paycheck Charlie mentality.

But that was the only difference!

What did the millionaire know?  Did he have some wiz-bang degree from a college?

Nope!  In fact, he was a high school drop-out.

He knew how to develop a product that would sell and he also did well in investing.

Oh, one more thing: he wasn't afraid to take risks and start a business.

That's sort of important.

Our economy isn't going back to where it was so now you're faced with a question that you have to answer:

How are you going to start cashing in on the New Economy in order to not only survive but thrive these major economic changes?  Are you going to invest or are you going to start a super successful Aggressive Income business?  Or both?

What are you going to do?

See you at the top!

Your mentor,

Monica Main
www.MonicaMain.com 
 

The only thing my mother ever taught me about anything "financial" in my entire lifetime was about credit.  She always told me to take good care of my credit because our entire world revolved around having an excellent credit history.
 
She cautioned me about using credit wisely, about not getting into debt, and about "constructive debt" vs. "destructive debt" long before Robert Kiyosaki's book Rich Dad, Poor Dad came into the picture. 
 
And that's all she taught me about economics.  Period.
 
Turns out, it was one of the most important lessons a young chick like myself could have possibly learned because I'm only now just figuring out how extremely important all this "credit business" really is.
 
And the more fractured and delicate our economy has become over the past several years, the more cautious banks had to become.  The more cautious, the better your credit has to be in order to tap into the financial resources (i.e. loans, credit cards, etc.) that they have to offer.
 
None of us really could have predicted what happened with our economy.  The only thing any of us really could have known was the regular "ups and downs" economic conditions tend to wave through as the years roll on.
 
Now it takes really good credit to get to where you want to go...and that includes anywhere.
 
Let me give you an example:
 
Right now I'm in Las Vegas at a trade show for my other business.  There are hundreds of exhibitors, all of whom cater to retail stores and wholesalers.  This means that anyone with a business is considered a prospective buyer to these exhibitors.
 
But here's the deal...
 
The buyers qualify for "show deals" on placing orders directly with these exhibitors during this 4-day trade show.
 
However...
 
There are what they call "purchase minimums."  This means that you're not going to walk up to a booth and realistically get one of anything.  In many cases, you won't be getting a handful of anything either.  You're looking at purchasing in volume.
 
We just closed out the first day of this 4-day show.  I, of course, had to walk the show to see the hundreds of exhibitors and what they had to offer in a variety of different categories.
 
And all I could see is dollar signs.
 
Why?
 
Because most of the items that are being sold at this trade show are not only being offered at incredible wholesale prices but the "show only" deals that are being offered for orders placed here at the trade show are...absolutely mind-blowing!
 
The money that can be made by simply buying products and selling them to the general public is nothing short of amazing.  Even if you had an eBay store, you'd make a killing.
 
But if you don't have the money to be buying these required volumes to get these "show only" deals, you're screwed.
 
Unless you have the credit, of course.
 
I started thinking about the new credit cards I just got for my newest company within the past couple of months, adding up to tens of thousands of dollars that I could simply use at any of these booths to essentially "flip" product and make a fortune.
 
And guess what, folks?
 
I may actually just do that.
 
After all, many of you who know me already know that I like doing different things just to change stuff up a bit (since I'm easily bored).
 
Plus...
 
Since I have my seminar coming up next month in Los Angeles for my Underground Secret Event talking about the most Aggressive Income Strategies (on Speed and Steroids), within the past couple of months I've been creating this special "case study" that will be presented at the event to show you how you can build a $20,000-per-month home-based business literally starting from nothing.
 
And I can just add to that special case study I'm doing by buying some stuff at this trade show, "flipping" it online, and taking in some huge profits by using other people's money.
 
Yes, that's right.
 
By using the bank's money with the new business credit cards I just got!
 
There's nothing worse than building business credit and using it for anything but business and investing related endeavors.  In fact, using business credit for personal reasons should and probably is considered a crime on certain levels.  As it should be.
 
There's only one reason to get business credit: to use the money to make money.
 
And the last time I checked, a big screen tv or a new Mercedes doesn't make money.
 
As long as you are responsible and understand the importance of why you are fixing/rebuilding your personal credit while building business credit then you're responsible enough to do the right thing with all the money you're going to have access to.
 
And that is to use that borrowed money to make money.
 
If you don't understand that basic concept then don't even bother trying to get personal or business credit otherwise you'll be irresponsible with this newfound secret strategy.
 
You need to now choose how you'll position yourself for 2014.  You can choose to be broke and feeling sorry for yourself for missing the boat.  Or you can choose to seize these opportunities by positioning yourself slightly ahead of the curve so you can cash in big when the next year rolls around.
 
As I always tell you, the choice is always yours.
 
Again, you can choose to take advantage by both learning what I have to show you but by also (most importantly) applying the strategies I give you.
 
Or not.
 
You choose.  The nice part about life is that you always get to choose your own fate.  You just might be realizing for the first time ever that you actually do get a choice in the matter.  You always have.
 
See you at the top!
 
Your mentor,
 
Monica Main
www.MonicaMain.com
 
 

Some of my students who are part of my business credit building teachings like to put the cart before the horse, usually even before they get or read my course materials.
 
I got an email today from one such student who asked about opening up several BLOCs (business lines of credit) at the same time.  After all, he wanted to open up as many as he possibly can in the shortest amount of time.  (Who doesn't?)
 
First of all, business credit access doesn't work like this.
 
How does it work?
 
Glad you asked!
 
In order to gain access to lines of credit from $50,000 and up (preferably a lot more than that), you have to start establishing yourself with a bank.  Preferably a large bank.
 
You can't realistically walk into any bank in town and say, "Hey, I have a DNB profile with a 90 Paydex so...where's my $200,000?"
 
As you can probably guess, that's not how it works.  Not by a long shot.
 
When getting unsecured BLOCs, you have to understand that the bank has to "get to know you" on a financial level.
 
And this starts with an unsecured business credit card.
 
Now, here's the trick and something I've learned the hard way:
 
You can't have your business bank accounts at this bank where you want to establish a relationship (to get a BLOC eventually) unless you do a sizeable volume of business (i.e. have a huge business cash flow).  If you just open a business bank account with $100 in it, never have any volume or business transactions, and expect that they won't consider this inactive account in their credit decision on a BLOC, you have another thing coming.
 
So...
 
You have your business account somewhere else.
 
Here's a scenario for you:
 
1)  Open up a business bank account at Chase.
 
2)  Get an unsecured business credit card at Wells Fargo.  (Wells Fargo is the only bank that offers secured business credit cards now too; in the event that you have poor personal credit, you can start with a secured business credit card now.)
 
3)  Get a second unsecured business credit card at Bank of America.  (May as well establish credit with 2 banks at the same time, right?)
 
4)  When basing credit decisions (even down to getting your unsecured business credit cards), these decisions won't be based on what's in your bank account or what type of business volume you do since they don't have access to that information.
 
5)  Once you establish a payment history with your business credit cards, you can now start the process of getting a very low BLOC...like $5,000 to $10,000.
 
Now, in case you don't understand what a BLOC is...it's a line of credit.  And it's revolving, much like how a credit card works.  You gain access to a certain amount of money that the bank allows you access to.  Say it's $10,000.  You can draw out $5,000.  This means you still have access to $5,000 that's left.  Say you make a payment of $2,500.  This means now you have access to $7,500.  Say you pay all $5,000.  You now have access to all $10,000 again.
 
Eventually, after showing that you can take money, pay it back, take it again, pay it back...you can now ask for the bank to increase your BLOC.
 
So, this goes against my students' common misunderstanding that a BLOC is a loan.  A loan is an open and closed deal.  You get a certain amount.  You get the whole amount, usually in the form of a check that is deposited into your account.  You make payments on the loan.  Once the loan is paid off, the loan closes.  It's not revolving in any way.
 
A BLOC is not like this at all.  The account stays open...forever (or until you die, close it, or screw the bank over, which I hope isn't an option for you).
 
So, when a student is asking me how he can open up as many BLOCs as possible, my question is..."Why?"
 
You need to establish a solid relationship with a bank, first starting with a business credit card then a small BLOC.  Once you get this relationship going, they'll keep increasing the size of this one BLOC.  No need to have 20 BLOCs when you can keep increasing and stretching the one you got!
 
Then, hopefully if you paid attention, you will have started establishing a business credit card at a second large bank and this is when you can also get a small BLOC with them for the purposes of establishing credit.
 
Now, when I say "for the purposes of establishing credit," I mean you're not using this money to buy anything.  You're taking the money out, parking it into a savings or checking account, then using the same money to pay back the bank.
 
Get it?
 
Within a short time, you'll notice that you'll have a BLOC (or two) that are collectively worth several hundreds of thousands of dollars that you can use for investing, starting a business, etc.
 
As you know, to compete in real estate investing right now, you are going to be going up against seasoned investors that have money down.  This is the way it's going to be from now until about 2020.  So, if you don't have the cash to compete, establishing solid business credit is your last chance aside from robbing a bank, hitting up rich Aunt Sally, or winning the lottery.  (You could get an investor partner.)
 
See you at the top!
 
Your mentor,
 
Monica Main
www.MonicaMain.com