All day yesterday I was working on my kick-ass first-ever presentation on how to build a multi-million-dollar per year mail order business from scratch for my upcoming event in Los Angeles next month.
While I was doing this, I spent hours upgrading my "money spreadsheet" that I personally use when planning out my next direct marketing campaign to see where my numbers need to be (for pricing) and what I can expect to make on a mailing project/campaign. During this process, I added something called an "Accumulative" section.
What does this do?
The "Accumulative" section of the spreadsheet will tell you how much you can expect to profit (and yes, that mean cash in your pocket after all expenses are paid) in various monthly increments or intervals, including how much you will make your first year with one single marketing campaign.
I was a little surprised of what a "newbie" in all this putting in minimal work per week can make in their first year, assuming that they don't plan on doubling or tripling their business (as they should). And that figure?
A whopping $245,006.25 in your first year! This is after all expenses are paid so this would be cash in your pocket!
And again, this is assuming that you're somewhat lazy and won't at least double your business at least halfway through the year!
Where is this spreadsheet?
Great that you asked because you'll need it for my kick-ass presentation I'll be doing next month in LA on how to get to these numbers for your marketing campaigns.
There's even a tutorial video on how the spreadsheet works...however, since the "Accumulative" portion is brand new, that part isn't discussed in the video. I'll be discussing more about how that works at the event.
When you download the spreadsheet, please note that the first yellow section in the upper-left hand corner is the part where you indicate "pieces." I have a huge number in there (50,000). To bring it to "reality" for where you'll be starting, bring the number back down to 5,000 and you'll get your realistic numbers.
This is where I'll be explaining in full detail -- including exactly what you'll be doing in these campaigns -- to make (or exceed) the numbers I'm showing in this spreadsheet.
I had a major altercation the other day with my 2nd ex-husband (my daughter's father). I work my ass off with only one "end-goal" in mind and that is to create a better life for my daughter.
You see, when I was growing up, clothing shopping consisted of going to a thrift shop once a year (or less), going without certain utilities (including water, gas, and the phone), sharing a bedroom with my brother during my younger years, and going without many meals on top of moving every single year...never going to the same school 2 years in a row. And forget about college. That simply wouldn't be for me as far as my parents were concerned.
Of course, I didn't want that type of crap-hole life for my little girl which is why I dedicate every single millisecond of each day to her future. Yeah, she may blow it but at least I know that I did everything I personally could do to make it better for her.
So, how do you think I feel when my daughter tells me over this past weekend that my 2nd ex-husband's girlfriend Geri (who we'll refer to as "Getty Lee" of the group Rush because she's a dead ringer for the guy...and if you don't know who I'm talking about, just roll with it) that Getty is making my daughter feel bad because she has nice things at my house. This conversation with my daughter apparently included asking her such questions as:
1) What's going on over there? How is your mom able to afford all that stuff?
2) Why do you have a nice house and I don't?
3) It's sooooo unfair that you have pretty things and I don't, don't you think?
In which case, as soon as my 6-year-old was communicating all of this to me, I was on the verge of marching right over there for a blow-out altercation with this nit-wit bitch and demanding why she was exuding her poorly-executed display of jealousy in an attempt to psychologically manipulate my daughter into believing that she doesn't deserve the things I work so hard for.
So, I told my daughter that she needs to say the following the next time Getty decides to go off on any one of her misplaced tangents:
"My mom works very hard for what we have and it's none of your business what my mother does for money; maybe you should stop being so lazy then you can get somewhere financially in your own life too! Having no job and sponging off other people isn't going to get you anywhere!"
Think I didn't tell her to say exactly that? Think again. Believe it or not, if you had a conversation with my daughter about anything, you'd be shocked at how adult-like the conversation would be...and it's because I talk to her like an adult (like how most parents should communicate with their children).
I do this because she's always been a bright girl, because life for little ones in this generation requires that kids grow up faster than we did (because of technology mostly) and they need to be able to quickly handle everything that comes at them (including drugs, perverts, etc.), and because I am training her to deal with most challenging task in this lifetime of all: dealing with people, especially before they try to make you feel bad, inadequate or negative about something otherwise you give them your power.
And you never give your power away to anyone else. Period!
Back to deadbeat "Getty Lee," I painstakingly explained to my daughter that anyone can have anything they want in this lifetime but it requires learning something of value then getting off their ass and doing something about it. When people are lazy and feel entitled, expecting to get something for nothing, they'll pretty much nothing for most (or all) of their lifetime. Reality is, you have to put together some type of action plan then actually work the plan consistently, persistently, and aggressively until you get what you want.
Sitting around watching television while skipping from one low-level job to the next then taking unemployment benefits in between till that runs out really isn't any type of strategy to be proud of and certainly not one that will give you the lifestyle you want. Especially if none of that in-between time includes learning something new, developing an action plan ofany kind, or actually implementing the elements of the plan.
I knew this student of mine years ago who worked one of the most basement-bottom jobs you could think of. He made minimum wage and was living in a motel.
Whenever I'd talk to this student on the phone, he intrigued me. He explained where he worked and how much he made. He told me where he lived and about the POS car he drove.
But he never complained. Not once. About any of it.
Instead he'd tell me that it's all temporary and that he's studying my stuff every waking moment of every day that he's not working. We was doing what he could to implement the steps including fixing his credit. Literally every waking moment was about working his success plan.
I didn't hear from him for a couple of years and wondered about him. Then a few months back he sent me an email. What was he doing now?
Well, over the course of three years he purchased a few apartment buildings and found himself enjoying an annual cash flow of just over $140,000 a year, bought himself a nice house, leased a Lexus, and was in escrow on a deal that would add another $35,000 a year to that annual cash flow.
And this student understood one thing I told him when he "thanked" me for his success.
I said, "It wasn't me."
He said, "You're right. It was me."
Damn right! It was him. He is the one who gets 100% of the kudos for the success he's attained because he did the work! I didn't do the work. He did!
How many thousands of people have my original book Apartment Building Millionaire? I'll tell you...just under 10,000! Yet there are success stories from a couple of hundred.
It's not the book that's sitting on your bookshelf that you can thank for your success. It's not even me for getting the information to you! It's you for taking words and putting them into action!
Like I said, nearly 10,000 people have the book. If everyone who merely had the book became successful, I'd have 10,000 raving raging success stories. Yet I don't. The book doesn't do the work. The author isn't the one to thank for attaining the success. You are the one who has all the control to get what you want in this lifetime.
And you can start today. Right now.
I have something interesting for you...the real estate investing strategy that can take you from nothing (with nothing to your name) and start packing your bank account with obscene amounts of profits within the shortest amount of time than any other real estate investing technique I can teach you.
If you have any questions, call my office at (661) 295-5050.
Bottom line...if you want to get anywhere in life and start living your dreams, you have to learn the techniques required for success then just go for it. You can't be like "Getty." You can't be a deadbeat!
See you at the top!
Your mentor,
Monica Main
www.MonicaMain.com
P.S. I still have room in my New Wealth Warrior 2-Day Boot Camp Seminar Event on September 13th and 14th in Los Angeles where I will be going in to great detail about the ground-breaking strategies on this incredible real estate investing strategy. Click here for more details.
The other day one of my mentorship group students asked me point blank: "Exactly how does no-cash-no-credit real estate work?"
There are actually a handful of "versions" on how this works:
1) Getting a property with a lease-option: Essentially you are taking over the payments and ownership (preferably with a land trust or land contract) and offering a "short term" lease option deal where you'll take over the property, get a mortgage on it within 18 - 24 months, then "cash" them out. This is idea for underperforming properties that desperately need tenants and the seller/owner knows he/she cannot sell the property to anyone seeking out a mortgage unless the occupancy is over 85% (which is what most lenders/banks require for a conventional mortgage). If you have credit problems or no money down (or both), this would be the time to start getting it together because you'll have 18 - 24 months the moment you take over the property. In the very least, you'll have to raise 10% in cash and fix any personal credit issues which, even in the worst credit cases
2) Raising capital with private investors: This is much easier to do than most of my students realize. If taking an underperforming property, one that needs rehab, is a bank-owned REO, or something else with huge upside potential, many times you can "sell" the plan of how you plan on putting the property back together from scratch and, most importantly, what the numbers will look like (in cash flow) once you're done. Most investors will put all cash into the deal, especially if you're getting it dirt cheap. If it's a property that's performing on a minimal scale and needs some or no rehab, they'll fork over the 20% cash down payment for it. The "draw" for them is that they'll be able to participate in a cash flowing investment without doing anything and since real estate is usually the strongest and highest yielding type of investment (even over stocks since it's less risky), they love the prospect of getting the full benefit from this type of asset without doing the work.
3) Raising business capital for real estate: This is also pretty easy to do. Of course, it starts with having some decent personal credit or a FICO of anywhere from 680 to 700 (on the low side). Once you have this bare-minimum FICO score, you can start building some business credit pretty quickly. Will you get $500,000+ in cash a few months after starting to build good business credit. In most cases, no. It takes a year or longer to build this type of credit because it hinges on 2 factors: (1) personal credit needs to be hovering around that 800 FICO mark, and (2) you need to have a "seasoned" business that is active and has decent gross-revenue tax returns filed for the past 2 years. However, the part where most students miss the boat is by thinking they actually need $500,000+ for a real estate deal and you really don't. I've changed my personal real estate investing strategies over the past few years and have been focusing on smaller buildings between 4 and 24 units, mostly because they are much cheaper to operate which puts more bottom-line cash in your pocket. The other reason is that putting $100,000 to $200,000 down on one of these deals can take you a very long way and getting that type of cash with built business credit is a lot easier than you think and can happen relatively quickly.
4) Flipping properties using "deferred" transactional funding: This is a highly effective method for taking an SFR (single-family home), fixing it up within a couple of weeks, reselling it a couple of weeks after that, and taking your profits/proceeds out of the middle. "Deferred" transactional funders get their transaction fees at closing and not up front. This means that you can buy a home with 100% cash and essentially "flip" it within a short period of time, getting the profits out of the middle. There is a certain way that this has to be done in order for this to work properly otherwise, if you don't do it right, you'll lose the house you're trying to flip or you won't be able to get it in the first place. This is a great way for new investors to raise capital for larger buy-and-hold investment property deals. The good news about this strategy is that the "deferred" transactional funder doesn't check your credit and doesn't verify income, making this a true no-cash-no-credit real estate deal. You can also flip a small apartment building including a "quad" (4-plex). However, keep in mind that you have a limited time to get in and do rehab so this isn't realistic for deals that require 6 months or longer in construction/rehab work.
All of these strategies work and they work extremely well when implemented correctly. But which one does a completely newbie real estate investor use? What can allow someone to get into the real estate business as quickly as possible and to start seeing money coming in right away?
The answer lies in option #4 above. It's because it's the most easily accessible and doable for new real estate investors and you can literally get started as fast as you learn what to do.
And learning what to do can be in as fast as a weekend!
Click here for more details about what I'm talking about...and how many of my student property flippers are scoring between $25,000 and $50,000 per flip deal!
Over the past week I've been sharing some details on how there is a little real estate market "niche" in certain areas of the country where you can buy a property, fix it up and resell it (in 90 days or less), and wildly profit by doing these short-term flip deals.
As you know, I've been telling my students for years that flipping should have been an opportunity that left the table earlier this year. But something strange happened whereas the real estate buyer's market that was supposed to happen didn't happen the way "experts" stated it would. In fact, the market is in slow motion right now and I'm guessing it has to do with fear of this "second bubble" that financial analysts have been brainwashing the American public into believing.
Will there be a "second bubble"?
I don't think so.
If you analyze history and how economics work, you'd realize that after a heavy-duty recession, we usually see an economic growth spurt for awhile. Our last similar economically devastating period started with the stock market crash in the fall of 1929. Following this period, we had a lot of banks and lenders tighten up on lending out to businesses mostly which completely ceased economic growth that businesses provide to the economy by giving people jobs, pumping out product, and (of course) selling product.
In order to have a successful economy, economic basics always have to apply:
1) People have to have jobs because they can't buy anything without an income.
2) Businesses have to have access to lines of credit for raw materials, supplies, being able to extend credit to other businesses (net terms on wholesale orders), and for business growth (including hiring more people, buying machinery, buying a larger building, etc.)
3) In order for people to have jobs, private businesses need access to this credit through banks and lenders. When an economy shrinks, endures any shift resulting in "insecurity," or banks see losses (i.e. the foreclosure windfall), they pull back on extending critical credit to businesses. And when businesses fold, there are no jobs available. (See #1 for the reason why jobs are necessary if you forgot.)
4) The government itself needs to employ people in a larger capacity. This can be employing people through the federal, state, and local levels as well as giving government contracts to companies for federal, state, or county projects such as construction, fixing the roads, building bridges, etc. If you're not sure the state of our economy, take a look at government building projects and make a mental note of whether they're happening in your local area or whether it seems that it's taking a lifetime for them to finish a bridge or part of the freeway where you notice there are never workers (and it's always "under construction"). This is a sure sign that things aren't good in the economy. On the other hand, when you see construction everywhere and there are construction workers busting their ass on projects day in and day out as your driving around, the economy is starting to boom.
The way I see it, we're definitely on a pretty good upward trend to a strong economy. Unemployment is low. Retail sales are up. Real estate sales are up.
Things are getting good. (And if you don't see it this way then you're not seeing what I'm seeing!)
And the "second bubble"?
You have to have "hyper inflation" coupled with heavy unemployment (not to mention failing businesses) where people (and businesses) can't cover their debt, sinking banks and lenders in the process and collapsing the financial system. Sorry, nay-sayers, but I don't see the economy in "hyper inflation" mode right now. Housing prices aren't even going up as high as they should be right about now.
But you know whose economy is about to completely collapse to shambles: China. That's right. Good old China is about to collapse in the worst economy way, making our little "depression" of late seem like a jolly picnic in the park on a Sunday afternoon.
Will that create the "second bubble" for us? I wouldn't call it a bubble but it may cause some financial problems if we are heavily reliant on loans and credit from China. Hopefully as a nation we'll become a little more financially self reliant in the months to come before they take the hit otherwise credit may tighten up again, causing us a sea of problems.
Back to you, I need to remind you that you can't be intertwined with the opinions of how our economy is going otherwise it'll drive you crazy, you'll worry, and you'll miss the boat on making money. No politician in office will have your best interests at heart and waiting around for that perfect guy (or lady) to take office isn't going to help you. At all! And waiting for the perfect economic conditions is what fools do because...did you know that there were quite a few multi-millionaires created during the Great Depression when everyone else was running around yelling about the sky falling down?? Yes, sometimes there is some kick-ass opportunity in the worst possible periods of time in our economic history.
Worrying, feeding into the "expert" views of how bad things are going to get, and making yourself sick over the completely normal trials and tribulations of our economy will donothing for you. It certainly won't allow you to see the abundant opportunity that exists in both good and bad economies.
So, now that you're no longer worried about this "second bubble" and you know that there is opportunity right now at your fingertips including some cash for you to be able to pull off your next real estate investing enterprise, now is the time to kick yourself into gear and start making money.
If you want to see copies of actual checks showing some of the proceeds that my students have made this year with this unique type of flipping I'm teaching my students, click here. Then when you're done checking it out, click here to get the incredible deal.
About 3 weeks ago I had a student tell me that he did an interesting and what I thought a little bit of an "unusual" real estate deal that piqued my curiosity because I had never done anything like this myself before.
His name is Dave R. and he lives in Michigan. He found a severely under-performing apartment building in the outskirts of Detroit. It was 22 units with only 8 of the units occupied with rent-paying tenants.
Unlike my typical recommended strategy of doing a buy-and-hold deal on an apartment building, Dave had zero interest in holding title on a property that is in an area that we'd call the "ghetto."
He had no cash and no credit for this deal. None whatsoever. So, he realized he had to develop some type of strategy for this property which I thought was incredibly creative (and apparently lucrative as well).
The listing price on this POS property was only $189,000. It's actually worth half of that. Dave made an all cash offer for $140,000 and it was accepted. Mind you, he had something that I call a "decoy buyer" in place because he was using what I call "deferred" wet funds to pull off this deal.
His strategy? Fill up the units...like yesterday. Then resell it to a real investor.
So...how does one fill up 14 units virtually overnight?
This is where I'm blown away at his level of creativity and I give him full props for how amazing this strategy is.
Each unit was in "okay" condition but he admitted that the carpet probably should have been completely replaced in most of them. He didn't have the money. All he had the money for was carpet cleaning and some paint, all which he would have to do himself.
So, he put an ad out there offering the first month for only $1. He even got a banner for across the building. But this is where it gets interesting...
In the ad he clearly states: $1 First Month's Rent, No Security Deposit Up Front; Move In for Only a Buck! Yes, We're Serious!!
His strategy was to move people in for only $1 but he'd make sure he qualified them with minimal credit (no evictions) and require that they showed paycheck stubs for the past 2 months of employment that had to be at least double and a half of what the rent was to be ($400/month...so they had to make at least $1,000 a month). And that was it. (We're in the ghetto, remember. You're not going to find people with 700+ FICO scores with long-term jobs and Microsoft.)
Once the ad was out, he went from unit to unit painting, cleaning and carpet cleaning himself with his teenage son helping.
The ad generated 86 calls in 2 days and he had to scramble to get each unit rent-ready for each prospective tenant. He had his wife do the "screening" of the tenants by making the criteria pretty clear up front:
1) No evictions
2) 2 months of steady employment
3) Must make $1,000 or more a month
They disqualified about half of the phone calls right off the bat but they still had over 40 serious contenders for their units. As fast as they had each one ready, they started quickly moving people in.
Now, what about the security deposit? Why not collect on one?
Each prospective tenant had a choice: Pay $400 up front for the security deposit and agree to a 12-month lease or add $25 each month for the next 16 months to cover the deposit and agree to a 16-month lease. He said that 4 tenants chose to pay the security deposit up front and the rest chose to have the $25 added to the rent for 16 months.
In approximately 2 weeks they had all 14 units filled.
Now here's the kicker. He had to flip this property to someone else because he couldn't keep it. It was on deferred wet funds that had to be cashed out ASAP.
He went on 2 different investor sites, including the LoopNet Big Board and put out some astonishing cash flow numbers that looked like this:
Who wants $2,000 a month in passive cash flow income from a building that's only $260,000? Fully leased up 22-unit apartment building in Michigan that's generating some serious cash flow. Perfect for any investor looking for a turnkey investment property opportunity! Inquire now! This deal will NOT last long!
And the deal didn't last long. Within 4 days he had about 12 investors beating a path to his door and he ended up selling the building for slightly higher than what he wanted.
Remember, he picked this building up for only $140,000 then told me he spent under $2,000 on paint and the carpet cleaner (including carpet solution and other cleaning supplies). He spent another $280 on running credit and eviction reports. Total: $142,280.
After all of his fees, he ended up walking away with $104,683 on this deal. Total time put in: 4 1/2 weeks.
Now he's working on the next one that will make at least double that over about 6 to 8 weeks because it's a larger 34-unit building. And he said this time he'll be hiring a painter and carpet cleaning service because he didn't particularly care for doing the work himself.
So...the question you would probably have about now is...how does one get the cash for a deal like this if you don't have money or credit to do it?
Transactional funders don't require money or even credit (or income verification) to get money from them.
But they all require that you have an end-buyer in place.
Of course, I have a legal way around this which is part of what my Real Estate Cash Flow System is all about. Click here for more information on it: http://www.monicamain.com/real_estate_cash_flow_system1
See you at the top!
Your mentor,
Monica Main
www.MonicaMain.com
P.S. I still have room in my upcoming 2-day Boot Camp Seminar on September 13th and 14th in Los Angeles. Click here for more details.
Yesterday I went on and on about my warehouse move and how the energy has shifted everything which is a major reason for my sudden yet effortless success I've been having over the past couple of months.
But...I didn't mention a couple of things that I also changed which is partially responsible for my success.
In late June I was walking through Home Depot in the gardening section and I saw this fountain that I just had to have. It fits into all the feng shui "rules" and it was just so lovely that I had to get it. And what do you know...they had only one left in stock which had my name on it.
I got rid of my other fountain in my prosperity corner at home and I set up this new fountain. Click here if you want to take a look at this exact fountain that Home Depot has that I set up in my prosperity corner at home.
Then I got a new money tree for that corner. It's very small, like those ones that you see in the front area of the grocery store by the floral department. Usually they're in a dish-looking thing with permanently glued-in pebbles.
Once I set up the fountain, I did notice an instant change in energy in the mere fact that it made me much happier. (It's a nice-size fountain so it really makes a presence.) Then, in the days that followed, our business really started to explode. I had a whole new slew of money-making opportunities that pretty much dropped into my lap while automatically coming up with a flow of new ideas that I never thought about before.
Many of my students know how much I believe in the power of feng shui and how altering the energy in your house can make some substantial positive changes in your personal and business life virtually instantly. And many of you know of my story about how -- more than a dozen years ago -- I went bankrupt and had to start over from scratch with nothing...and how my life completely changed from bankrupt and deeply in debt to back to multi-millionaire status...and in about 6 months!
Yes, you heard that correctly. It took about 6 months.
I started the entire process with this book called Move Your Stuff, Change Your Life by Karen Rauch Carter. I'll admit that I only focused on the prosperity corner of my house. And all I did was clean out my closet (which was in the prosperity corner, put some purple construction paper in there, and made my own treasure chest (to represent prosperity) out of a small chest from a craft store that I painted purple and added a bunch of fake jewels to. (I still have that same treasure chest in my prosperity corner.)
Everything changed after that. I went from bankrupt (as I indicated before) to building a house after claiming my multi-millionaire status...again. And in about 6 months.
Now, was it just the feng shui that was responsible for the success?
No. Not entirely. I did work at my success plan, although not particularly hard.
The feng shui part makes things easy, like greased lightning. It drops the success in your lap without much effort, gives you more ideas about attaining wealth, and makes everything super easy to do.
You tell me, which would you rather experience?
Walking through mud tied to a two-ton log, gaining almost no distance in life until you pass out or just give up?
Or having someone give you cloud-like "magical" pair of flying running shoes where all you have to do is stand up and start leaning forward then you'll start flying through life with barely any effort on your part, getting everything you ever wanted without a hitch? (Yes, you did have to "stand up" and "lean forward" which implies some effort from you.)
So, when I mentioned my change of energy, I forgot to include the other things I did to make this happen (which was setting up the fountain and including a new money tree in my prosperity corner).
Think this is all New Age-ey clap-trap? Fine. Then stay broke.
The only reason I implemented any of these feng shui strategies was because I was in a situation of desperation and, maybe like you, I didn't believe in any of it until I saw first handthe power of changing your environment which changes the energy which ultimately changes everything!
Now, let's get to the part that I was talking about where you have to stand up and start leaning forward...
Years ago when I first got started in real estate investing, I started out as a real estate flipper. I did very well until I found myself paying more taxes to the IRS than I thought I should be. It was in the early 2000s when Dr. Raj told me about funneling some of these funds into apartment building real estate.
But by then it was a little too late because I was experiencing my major financial calamities at that time.
Ultimately those "financial calamities" turned out to be a blessing in disguise because it taught me how to start my apartment building investing career with no cash and no credit; quite simply, because I had no cash or credit to start with.
Since then I've been "mixing" flipping with funneling some of those proceeds into buy-and-hold passive income property deals as to not get beaten and raped by our American taxation system.
One thing I mentioned a couple of years ago is that the window of opportunity will be closing for flipping properties. In fact, the window has already closed on certain major cities in the United States.
But something happened that I wasn't able to predict. Our real estate market paused. That's right. It paused. We stopped going up. What started off as a quickly growing buyer's market suddenly stopped...like when horses get spooked off or something. I don't know what happened.
This means that there is good news for you because this "pause" has allowed for opportunity to still be there when, in reality, it should have been completely gone this time last year in every city in the United States.
There's double good news for you.
Years ago when I got started with flipping, I had to raise the funds to acquire my first property. It wasn't a lot. I literally had to come up with something around $3,000 if I recall which was scraped together between credit cards and cash I happened to have in my bank account. This was back in 1995 when I did my first flip deal. Since it was a HUD on an FHA loan, I lucked out with having almost no down payment.
But that was a different era...hell, it was technically even a different century. A lot has changed since then, both positive and negative.
What we didn't have back then was something called "deferred" wet funds.
When I have students asking me in today's day and age how to start with no cash and no credit, I can tell them the secrets strategies that I didn't even have access to use back in the day.
And if you're wondering what the hell I'm talking about, I suggest you click here to get the gist of it.
This is the part where you can choose to stand up and start to lean forward. This real estate investing strategy is the easiest, quickest, and most profitable one I've ever worked with since I started my long-ago road as a professional real estate investor. I seriously suggest you look into it if you want to take advantage of the opportunities that are left before our economy goes back into the full swing of things...which is right around the corner!
P.S. We still have room in our September 13th & 14th seminar event. And yes, thesekick-ass no-cash-no-credit real estate investing strategieswill be discussed in great detail during this event for the first time ever! Don't miss it. Click here for more details about the event!
Most of you know that I underwent a lengthy never-ending office move that started around my birthday when I secured my new office/warehouse unit (in mid-June) through the very last day of July. Yes, it took 6 weeks from beginning to end. That's what happens when you shave 3,000 square feet off your unit.
This was around the time when I realized, without a doubt, that there was a very weird energy in that old place. I didn't realize what a major life-sucking downward spiral I was on since I moved into that place almost 3 years ago. Yes, there are energies in every space, believe it or not. And energy that is negative, bad, weird, paranormal, "low," or even abyss-like will drain you dry on every level possible and imaginable.
I felt like I was in one of the sequel Ghostbuster movies where I recall the scene where there is an oversized painting of a viking-looking dude and one of our Ghostbuster guys starts staring into the painting, completely overcome and controlled by it.
This is what was going on when I went into the office. I had a list of things to do. I was completely focused. I was raring to go. Then I'd get into the office, sit at my desk, and instantly became completely unmotivated, almost nauseated in a way, unfocused, and confused about what to do. And I'd accomplish absolutely nothing most days unless I went home and worked on my laptop.
I smudged, blasted loud energetic music, burned incense, had 3 fast-running fountains, and sprayed certain oils into the air in an effort to change the energy. Nothing worked. And this went on year after year after year.
Toward the end of being at the old place, as many of you know, I was feeling really sick of my businesses and hated my staff...even going on frequent firing rampages, essentially clearing everyone out except for Lea.
I realize now that all of this behavior was stemming from this weird energy vortex I was stuck in and moving wasn't just a luxury. It was required!
Ever since I started the process of moving mid-June, my business has taken some significant positive changes. Business is booming and I can't keep up. I hired one of my old staffers back who was with me for 5 years before I terminated her last summer. I'm begging Lea to stay past her September 30th retirement date. And I'm scrambling to hire more people...like yesterday.
All because I moved and created an energy change!
So, what am I getting at here? Profits have increased dramatically for my businesses. Click here if you want to see what I'm talking about.
But I really don't care about myself because I've always been able to make money in business and investing. That's nothing new. What's mind-boggling to me is that my change of energy has actually helped many of my students as well. Click here to look at some of their wild and crazy profits they've been making in real estate!
By the way, since I moved I feel freaking fantastic. My "office" is in the back of the warehouse where I have no window and I put up a giant-size poster of the beach but...I feel great and I freaking love it! Better than having the best window office in the joint and feeling completely drained, unmotivated, and sick everyday, right? I haven't felt this focused, enthusiastic, motivated, and happy in a very long time!
I think one of the biggest problems with my students not following through with some of the teachings I provide is that they psyche themselves out before they begin. They believe that the process is much more difficult than it really is so...they end up saying, "Screw it!"
And then do nothing.
But here's the problem with the financial track that you're on now. I don't care if you make nothing a year or $500,000 a year. Without setting yourself up for some type of passive income in the future, you're going to be exactly like that rat on a wheel that you see in a pet store. Running and running and running his ass off until his heart explodes.
Why?
Because you won't have the option to stop working otherwise.
And if you're dumb enough to think that Social Security checks or some other "means" of paying you out is going to suffice, you're only fooling yourself. Pensions are ending up in company (or even government) bankruptcies, people are living much longer, and with super inflation on the horizon, expect that you'll be working until the day you drop dead.
Not a very encouraging future, is it?
Here's a better scenario for you:
Say you're only able to snag one small apartment building. Maybe it's only 10 or 14 units. Nothing big. Nothing ridiculously large. Nothing intimidating.
And maybe it only kicks out a monthly cash flow of $2,900 per month, net in your pocket. (I'm working on a deal like that right now which is why I'm using this as an example.)
So, here's how that would play out provided that you listen to me and keep is as a buy-and-hold-forever investment property.
Since I'll assume that you're still working (whether at a job or business), you can sink that $2,900 per month back into the property's mortgage principle. This will allow you to pay off the property in 7 years on average. (Sometimes it'll take 10 years...sometimes 5 years. Depends on what's owed on the mortgage.)
Once the property is paid off, this will give you more on cash flow each month since you're off the hook on paying a mortgage. In the case of the property I'm working on where the mortgage is a million bucks, I'm going to be able to add another $5,400 per month to my bottom line cash flow. Yep, that's a huge difference. However, because what the principle is (a million bucks), it'll take me a little more than 15 years to get to this point of paying off the mortgage early.
But guess what else happens in 15 years?
Rents will double.
So, 2 things are going to occur here. My mortgage will be paid off and my rents will double at the same time. For the building deal I'm working on, this will bring rents up from $1,086 to $2,172 per month.
So, my $2,900 per month cash flowing property (today) will turn into $8,300 once the mortgage is paid off and will rise to about $13,400 per month with the new rents (less the higher expenses/GOE).
How many other retirement plans will you be able to get where you will be getting $13,400 per month in 15 years from now?
None.
But here's the real clincher. In order to get anywhere 15 years from now (except older), you have to start investing today. You can't derive the benefit if you don't do any of the work or acquire any properties. Right? Pretty obvious, isn't it?
Maybe now is the time for you to start. After all, the process isn't that difficult once you know the precise step-by-step strategy that I have laid out for you.
A little while ago I sent out an email about 6 rules for investing in apartment buildings in the ghetto...any ghetto in any city!
Why a ghetto? Because you can cash flow like crazy by getting super cheap properties that nobody wants. As you know, some of these areas are a full out war zone and investing in these areas can be intimidating at best.
In case you missed that email, here are the 6 rules before I give you my additional "add on" rules in a moment...
Here are some "rules" for investing in a Class D ghetto-like area:
1) Make sure you do not buy on a "board up" block. This means that every other house or property is boarded up. Wrong move.
2) Make sure the building is still standing and not actually burned down. It takes Google Earth sometimes many years to "catch up" to the real street images in places like these so...make sure there's still a building there instead of just assuming that, because there's a picture on LoopNet.com, there must automatically still be something there. Sometimes it looks like a building is there until you see that the roof is all burned up. Not a good investment.
3) You usually can't go wrong if your apartment building is located on a very busy street. Yes, people still can get murdered there but your potential tenants would rather live near a busy street than in the middle of the woods where nobody can hear them yelling for help. (That's a joke...actually, maybe not. Truth is, your tenants want to live near grocery stores or the "party store" since many of your tenants won't have vehicles.)
4) Make sure there isn't any major structural damage, foundation cracks, parts of the interior building exposed to the elements, or major water (or storm or any other) damage that will take a fortune to fix. If there are units in the building that aren't rented, make sure they are aren't vacant because they are unrentable for reasons such as black mold, severe fire damage, or other pain-in-the-ass crap that you don't want to fix because it'll take a haz-mat and/or demo team just to deal with the unit.
5) This is the most important: make sure the property is still in service. Any out-of-service or 0% occupied property is a no-no! Now and forever! Understand? Even a 20% occupancy is still workable. However, try to stick with 50% occupied or more as a beginner.
And, of course...
6) Never offer the seller anything remotely close to what he or she is asking. This is one of these areas where you can still get away with being like Monica...the Lowball Queen! Don't feel like you're "insulting" the seller with a lowball offer because, if you think about it, their building being in existence is a insult to begin with. Isn't it an insult that the seller is putting up a property that he/she has done no work on in the last...who knows how long? Or that there's massive trash surrounding the property? Or that it looks like you'll need an African bush tribal dude with a machete to clear some of the "forest" that they've allowed to accumulate in the back of the property? Now that's an insult to any prospective buyer! Howdare they list something like that without at least cleaning it up? So...don't worry about insulting them with a lowball price of at least 25% off the asking price.
Click here to join my next (and last) Multifamily Apartment Building Mentorship Group!
So, now that we got through the basic 6 rules, what are the rest of the rules?
First off, I should mention that acquiring a ghetto property is ridiculously easy...so easy that it can be done with a quit claim deed since the seller wants to get rid of it as soon as possible. No escrow required in most cases!
With that said, managing these properties tends to be the most difficult to pull off. You may walk into a property that has a 50% occupancy and a year later all of your tenants have left.
I had a competitor on a property that I wanted in Detroit that's a whopping 96 units. It takes up a city block. They had no clue on what they were doing and they were adamant about beating me out on the price. So...I let them have it.
Here's how the deal went down...or rather didn't go down for me.
Property was listed at a ridiculous price. It was a bank-owned property. I offered $250,000. They offered $290,000. They got it. I didn't. They turned around and sold it to an associate of theirs, probably telling them what a hot deal it was. They sold it immediately for $470,000 and made a cool $180,000 profit within about 2 months. Nice deal for them.
But let me tell you how the "associates" fared in the deal. Here's the short version of the story: They lost their ass.
Here's how...
The building had only a 40% occupancy back when I was negotiating on it. Even worse, the upper northern corner of the building had severe water damage which parlayed into at least 4 units at the top of the building that couldn't be rented. (This happens a lot with flat roofs in the Midwest and on the east coast. Flat roofing is a stupid architectural design flaw that seemed to carry over generation after generation and never works anywhere there is a lot of rain and/or snow.)
After the "associates" took over the property, the occupancy went from just under 40% to 0% in just a few months.
And they were left holding the bag on a mortgage/debt service of about $24,000 a year, annual taxes of just under $15,000 a year and many other expenses that even an abandoned/vacant building can cost.
Now they're in a desperate situation to sell. They have the price listed as "not disclosed." I'm imagining, however, that they want to get their money back. Unfortunately, a building located in most areas of Detroit that has a 0% occupancy is worth...nothing.
That's right. Nothing. Zippo. Zero.
They'd do better if they burned the joint down and collected on the insurance money. Much better, actually. (And don't think investors don't do stuff like that because they do. All the time, believe it or not!)
So, what did they do wrong?
At the risk of offending people, I'll tell you anyway because it's the reality of the business, folks. And if you don't want to know the reality, get into a different business.
The area in which this building is located is 100% African-American. The "associate" who bought the property is Arab-American.
Both races in this area of the country pretty much hate each other with a passion which resulted in the remaining tenants in the building moving out to stick it to the new owner.
And stick it to him they did!
Because let me tell you what happens to a building that goes into the "0% occupancy state" in an area like this and why it can go from worth "something" to "nothing" virtually overnight.
You see, the second an apartment building or other commercial property (and even residential properties) become vacant, vagrants begin to strip out anything of value in the building from copper wiring to door knobs to even toilets. Yes, you read that correctly. Everything methodically gets stripped out within just weeks after a complete property abandonment. Everything!
Then...somebody or a group of somebodies (in most cases) will go in and torch the place down...for fun and entertainment. Or because they're high on PCP and think it's cool to watch a building burn up.
Or because they hate the mother****** who bought the place. You know, the Arab-American "associate" who bought the building?
By the way, this was the very same building that I had done a proforma on that would have cash flowed at a kick-ass $13,774 per month on a 95% occupancy...even paying their ridiculous $400,000 they were asking! Yes, that's right, it would have cash flowed $13,774 per month or $165,288 per year by bringing the occupancy up.
And even if I did nothing but let the place be with it's 40% occupancy, I would have cash flowed around $2,400 per month or just under $30,000 a year...for doing nothing but keeping things "status quo" with the joint.
And yes, these figures are after all expenses, taxes, and mortgage are paid out.
So, yes, it would have been a freaking great deal.
But now we have a vacant building. (Look it up on LoopNet.com when you get a chance. It's in Detroit and it's called "Cabot Apartments." Beautiful building that's about to be completely and permanently destroyed until the city bulldozes it to the ground in about twenty years.)
Click here to join my next (and last) Multifamily Apartment Building Mentorship Group!
How would I have been able to do better with this deal?
Well, first of all, the on-site property manager really took an instant liking to Ronnie when I sent him over to inspect the property for me. The manager (an African-American gentleman) was really rooting for us to buy the property, had some really kick-ass strategies on building the occupancy (which included having an "in" with a local half-way house of working ex-convicts who were required to get immediate housing upon release to stay out of prison), and was willing to do whatever it took to keep the building in operating order. (He made that clear to us because he didn't want to lose his job or his apartment!)
Then the "associates" took over. I'm sure they either made unrealistic (and disrespectful) demands of the current building manager or got rid of him completely to opt for a management service.
And no management service worth its salt will bother with properties in the ghetto. They will literally do nothing for you or your building.
If you are going to nab any of these super lucrative properties, you're going to have to understand some very simple rules. Yes, I will offend some people by telling you this but, guess what? These are the rules. I didn't make them. I'm just relaying reality to you.
More rules...
1) If your property is in primarily an African-American community, you better either (a) be African-American yourself or (b) find yourself an African-American property manager (preferably on site) who has a "built-in" rapport with your current tenants. This same rule applies for Asian-American, Arab-American, etc. properties.
2) On-site management is required. Period. No way around it. You can't have an outside property management service. It won't work. You have to have an on-site guy do maintenance and be on the property at all times! This will include giving him a free unit and a small salary.
3) Offer your on-site manager bonuses. You should offer him bonuses for leasing up the property to certain thresholds like to 50%, 75% and then 100% as well as offering him a referral bonus for leasing to his own associates, friends, and family who qualify.
4) Respect your property manager. Ask for his advice and suggestions on things often. The more respected he feels, the more pride he'll take in taking care of your building.
5) Stick with older folks for both management and for tenants. Young punks won't watch after your property or take care of it and will make it into a giant frat house which is a major legal eviction nightmare!
If you stick to these rules, not only will you have an easy time acquiring a profitably property in the ghetto but you'll be able to make it cash flow for yourself for many years to come rather than losing your ass like the "associates" had.
Years ago I used to get angry with students who used to sign up for a seminar to take endless amounts of notes and to get all pumped up just to do exactly nothing with the information when they got home. And for awhile, I took this type of stuff personally.
Then, over the years, I would see these same students in my events or they would email me telling me that they finally started buying property! Some students who I had never seen before would end up going up to the microphone at my events thanking me for helping them get started and then talking about the building or buildings they purchased using my materials.
I've noticed a trend these days. There are more and more students who are actually using my stuff.
But I also noticed something else that's a little less obvious. Maybe these people that just keep signing up for stuff finally become ready at different times. Maybe it takes more than one seminar event to allow them to push past the fears they have. Maybe my time frame for success differs greatly with many other people out there.
Is it okay to sign up for stuff, show up, and put a half-assed (or no) effort into taking the stuff you learned into the real world for real results?
Yes, it is. And here's why:
Some people don't know if they want to become entrepreneurs or investors...yet. And they need to get some more information to make an informed decision.
Or maybe some of my students need to connect with other people at the event who have actually bought properties to let them know something as simple as, "If I did it, so can you."
And maybe there really is something to "success by osmosis." This was a concept that I used to rip apart in my earlier seminars and I went for the throat with my students, condemning them if they dare even think about investing their time, effort, and energy into an event of mine without doing something with the stuff they learned.
But I'm a student too. Not with real estate, business, or investing but with something else.
Many of you know how much I've been doing with creative writing and screenwriting. In this world, I am a student. But what you don't know is that I've been housing a fear -- an unsubstantiated fear I need to add -- for more than 20 years. I knew if I was going to do something with creative writing I had to start pushing past the fear. And I did, starting with registering (and attending) every event, seminar, and workshop I could.
And this made all the difference!
How?
I'd look at people who had done it and say, "If they can do this, I can do this." Or I'd look at people who haven't done anything and quickly learn why they're so pathetic. Sometimes they didn't even have to open their mouth and I'd figure it out. Or I'd start putting together a very well streamlined action plan based on the information I was given including figuring out those "missing pieces" that I either knew were missing or had no idea they were to be part of the mechanics to begin with.
But I think the most significant element of registering and attending events is that you are showing yourself (namely your conscious and subconscious minds) that you are investing in the process by attending something and taking the time to learn a craft. And because you've made this investment in yourself, you're technically now "invested" which forces you to move forward so you don't have to take a "loss" on what you've invested in the process so far. That's basic human psychology, folks!
As I either end my career (or take a very long break) from teaching, I'd like you to join me for my September 13th and 14th event in Los Angeles. At this event, I have private investors showing up to network with you guys and gals during breaks, at the bar, and during dinner. I have my "star" apartment building student by the name of Stephen Scott who is coming in from Texas to meet you and tell you exactly how he started out with my book living in a hotel room to buying tens of millions of dollars in property in only a couple of years.
I'm offering my early-bird deal until Thursday, July 31st at 5pm Pacific Time before I drastically bump up the price. So, if you want in, I recommend you get in.
By the way, this will be your only chance to get a payment plan or put down a hold deposit in case you change your mind later. If you wait until Friday (the 1st) then you'll be paying a steep registration fee with no hold deposit option.
