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.
I was reluctantly sucked into a conversation with husband #2 last night because my daughter basically threw the phone at me when he called. (Apparently she doesn't want to talk to the guy either.) And for some reason, he felt like becoming Chatty Cathy about his future plans which include the following:
Moving back in with Mommy (for the 2nd time since our divorce).
Leaving a job that's physically taxing to something for lazy folk like himself, but this new job must be a supervisory position that pays extremely well and one that he doesn't have to work his way up to get or prove his work ethic (or offer tenure) to get.
Figuring out other ways to leach off society by exerting as little effort as possible.
So, in other words, not a damn thing has changed with the guy.
Apparently he was telling me all this because maybe he thought I'd be supportive of his fruitless and futile efforts to extract unearned funds and benefits from others stupid enough to allow such a fraud to occur.
He's now 41 years old, has never looked sicker in his entire life, is smoking even more cigarettes (and even telling people that he quit), and looking for ways to freeload off the system in, what he believes, are more "creative" methods. All I could do is roll my eyeballs and end the conversation with some white lie including, but not limited to, "the stove just blew up," "I feel sick and I'm about to throw up," or "what?? you're cutting out! whhhaaaatttt??"
And then click.
He should know me well enough that I don't support such apathetic behavior but, then again, when you are dealing with someone who is further mentally "off" than Walter Mitty, what can you realistically expect?
My 2nd husband wasn't seemingly always such a piece of work. I met him when I was 25 and he seemed very focused, devoted to his career in law enforcement, and was quickly moving his way up the ranks into supervisory rolls.
So...what the hell happened between then and now?
I can partially attribute this shift to the fact that I financially supported him for a number of years, thus eliminating his motivation to get off his ass. Once you glue your ass to a couch for several years, somehow you don't want to get up anymore. Your brain becomes mush-mash from the hours and hours a day of watching The Price is Right, Judge Judy, and Dr. Phil...all while "multi-tasking" and playing Call of Duty on your laptop at the same time.
But then I thought about it.
Am I really to blame for his downward spiral recession into the dark abyss of apathy? Would a hustler or motivated person by nature even accept the station in life to become a "kept" person who loses interest in everything but television and Internet porn?
I don't know.
I know I'm a highly motivated person who will always be doing something whether it's writing the next American novel, trading stocks online, or even donating my time to some type of organization like becoming a paralegal for the Legal Eagles for Death Row Inmates...or something.
But to do nothing? Nothing at all?
So, let's turn this to you. Who are you? What are you all about? What motivates you? Would you be a complete and total lazy ass if someone was taking care of you or if you suddenly had millions of tax-free dollars land in your bank account? Be honest. I don't care about your answer. I only care about my answer.
If you recall, I sent you an email a couple of days ago with a "secret" to success. But what I didn't tell you is that you have to want success to start with. And you have to want it with a passion. If you don't want it or you don't want to do anything to get it then...nothing I can do to help you on any level.
As you know, I just told you about my Motherload 2015 Resource Directory. What I didn't mention were a couple of key things about my Motherload:
1) I've had students use this to purchase millions of dollars in property including helping them get the down payment funds for their deals.
2) I've had students hook up with multi-millionaires for partnerships through this directory which they use for their first deal or two before having the money needed to do their own solo deals.
But...with the good comes the bad which is...
* The Freeloaders or the students who don't want to lift a finger to get the deals but they want to be "partners" on deals with the people who will be ponying up the cash and the credit for the deal...and apparently they're supposed to also find the profitable deal for the student too!
* The Fools or the students who get the directory and start calling lenders, brokers, and partners on the phone without (1) any idea of what they're doing because they haven't bothered to read a simple book on real estate investing, or (2) don't have a deal but want to "secure" funding first which isn't how it works in investment real estate.
You can't be a Fool or a Freeloader to be able to use the Motherload Resource Directory to its maximum capacity. So, because of this, I'm throwing in the needed educational materials needed when you receive your Motherload Resource Directory next week.
Oh, wait. Did you order it yet? If not, here's the link to the deal that ends tomorrow:
http://www.monicamain.com/motherload_seminar_deal
Okay, so we talked about the resources which, technically, are the only major component you need to become filthy rich in real estate (or business). But what about that other thing I was talking about? You know, about what's required to start breaking out into a new life by educating yourself, acclimating into a new world, and changing the dreadful scenery of the life you want to leave behind?
That would be at my September Boot Camp Seminar in Los Angeles.
That's where it starts.
Here's the link where you can get the directory free if you register for the seminar event. And if you've already registered, you can get the Motherload free by going to this link:
http://www.monicamain.com/motherload_seminar_deal
Again, this deal ends tomorrow so...what the hell are you waiting for?
This coming Saturday will make 9 years that have passed since my mother died of brain cancer. Although it seems that I've gotten over grieving her death a long time ago, it seems that my brother is just coming out of his own grief.
Having had a conversation with him this past weekend, he was talking about how he's whipping his ass into shape, laying off the drinking, and looking into some profitable business opportunities. This is all stuff that he wouldn't even consider just a short 6 months ago.
He doesn't know it but I know what's going on. He finally got over my mother's death which he took very hard, sending him into a bottomless spiral of drinking and personal life destruction. Now that he's automatically thinking differently including exercising his ass off, juicing with this new juicer I got for him, and making a concerted (and much easier) effort to stay abstinent from drinking, he finally got "over" my mother's death.
Time does heal all. But the time that's required to heal for some people is much different for others. What can take a few months for some can take years or even decades for others. And I don't have any clue what the "secret" to rapid healing is or if there is such a thing for certain people. I think healing itself has to run its due course when it pertains to everyone and matters of the heart.
Many of you know my own personal relationship/marital battle that I went through with Ron Espinoza. Something strange happened to me yesterday. I was thinking as I awoke and realized something. I had just gotten "over" the entire relationship.
Yes, just like that.
One day I was still clinging onto an endless false hope and then, just like the snap of a finger, I realized it was over. And my heart was instantly freed.
What did it take to get to that "instant moment"?
Years of pain, toil, logic-lacking based "hope," and much emotional torment. That's what it took to get to that moment.
Some relationship "experts" will tell you that it takes exactly half of the time you were in a marriage to get over it. That's complete bullsh**. Some people can get over a relationship or marriage in a few months. Others...years. Maybe never for some.
But...is there a catalyst or some "thing" you can do to help encourage faster healing?
I don't really know. I can tell you what worked for me.
Just as with anyone with a substance abuse problem, counselors will tell you that you have to disconnect with everyone having to do with the "problem" including your circle of friends, enabling family, even regular hang-out spots, and, in some cases, you need to completely move from your locale altogether. Go to some different city and start over.
That seems to promote healing faster.
There is some truth to that.
Many of you know that I've been on a strict and very short-planned (9-month) life change that started in January of this year. Ever since I put the plan on paper, it's like a train on a track that started taking off on this pre-planned path all on its own, sort of with a mind of its own too! (That's why it's critical that you get the plan the way you want it otherwise you'll end up railroading yourself!)
Some of you know that I was accepted into the UCLA Professional Program for Screenwriting. I was just accepted into the UC Palm Desert MFA Program for Creative Writing. Both start in September.
Concerted and conscious change.
I realized that my office/warehouse as well as certain employees were draining my energy and my finances. So, I fired those that weren't working for me and I moved warehouses.
Concerted and conscious change.
I made a decision that, instead of lingering around in a relationship that wasn't going anywhere, I'd be cutting all ties after my September event which, conveniently, would be the same time all of the business loose ends would be tied up for good. (Unfortunately, when tying up business loose ends, it doesn't happen as quickly as packing up someone's crap and tossing it out onto the sidewalk.)
Concerted and conscious change.
Instead of following through with the book proposal that one particular New York publishing company has been suggesting I do for the past couple of years, I decided to come out with a much different proposal altogether that would help more people in a much more beneficial way.
Concerted and conscious change.
And I can go on and on...
And no, I don't know what the result will be on any of the new stuff I'm doing. But I don't care. When it's time for you to make some major changes, take responsibility and startmaking the changes. What are you waiting for?
You can do more than you think and you are not at the whim of merely standing on a planet that's just whipping around through the universe through each season, each year, and each decade. You can make your own concerted and conscious changes to see where it takes you.
But here's the "secret" that I've been getting at here.
In order for new stuff to come in, the old stuff has to go. No new stuff can come in with old crap that's lingering in your life and tapping out your energy.
This includes getting rid of relationships (of any kind) that aren't working, as much of a pain in the ass that it'll be to get rid of that person (or those people). You have to bite the bullet and do it. Get rid of them! Now!!Before they consume the rest of the life you do have on this planet.
This includes getting rid of a job or business or career that you don't want anymore. Is it prudent to just quit your job? Not really. But if you put an action plan in place (like the one I did at the beginning of this year) and make small efforts each day to get to where you're going, you'll notice that a lot of stuff will "automatically" start happening for you. (Remember the train track that I was describing? Once the track is laid out, the train starts moving and a lot of times it starts going much faster than you anticipated.)
I recommend you take a look at my time line by clicking here. It'll really open your eyes at how I am doing it and how you can do something so simple to make some major significant changes in your life.
Part of what I've been doing to quickly further these changes is by signing up for events, attending them, and maximizing the benefit of being there by networking, taking copious notes, and implementing everything I've learned.
You have that opportunity to do that with me in September for my last planned event. I'm also offering my sought-after million-dollar resources for a super kick-ass deal right now. For more information, click here.
Making significant changes in your life is pretty easy but it starts with deciding, creating the plan, getting the education and resources needed to implement the plan and then going for it...never looking back!
I don't know about you but I read horoscopes. As cheesy as it may be, sometimes it actually makes me feel better to read somewhere that I have a future to include traveling, getting a lottery-like windfall of cash, meeting my soul mate, or getting a gift from someone even though most of the time the forecasts are completely untrue. I'd have a better chance having a forecast in a fortune cookie come true on most days.
Why do we read such clap-trap? You may personally not be addicted to such nonsense but most of you secretly are. And for those of us who do read that crap (like me), why do we read it knowing that the vast majority of it doesn't actually apply to us at all?
Hope.
Hope is a powerful thing.
After all, we already know what he have to look forward to day after day. We get up at a certain time, probably fight freeway traffic, deal with issues at work or our business, and go home all the while counting how many hours we have left before we hit the weekend so we can decompress.
Then we start all over again the next week, month, and year. Year after year until we die.
I know. Pretty depressing, isn't it?
So, what's the harm in reading a trivial (and untrue) "prediction" in the 1-inch by 2-inch section of the paper under your sun sign just to...I don't know...give you hope that something else can actually happen in your for once??
One thing I do read religiously is a website called Astrology Zone at www.astrologyzone.com. This website comes out with forecasts at the beginning of the month for each sun sign. I read this one particular forecasting site because I have seen the correlation between astrological happenings with various planets and how it's effected my life. So I always want to know what I have to expect for damage control, especially with those pesky Mercury Retrogrades that tend to effect those of us who depend on communication, writing, speaking, etc. (I fall into that category.)
But regardless of whether you believe in these types of forecasts or if a gypsy woman reads your palm and "predicts" your future, I can tell you how to not get what you want and how you can get what you want.
Here's how to not get what you want: Sit on your ass and do exactly nothing! You'll succeed in getting exactly nothing every time.
Here's how to get what you do want: Figure out what you want, create an action plan, and follow the action plan. And you'll get exactly what you do want every time as long as you stick with it.
Planets, eclipses, retrogrades or not. Sitting on your ass will get you nowhereeverytimeeven if your forecast says that your treasure ship is coming in right now. And adopting a powerful action plan will bring you to where you want to be, even if and when you have to "power through" the harder and more challenging times (which always come).
The good news is that if you do believe in the forecasting astrological stuff, July is supposed to be the month when the vault unlocks for you...for all of us. They say that the first half of 2014 was equivalent to walking through mud. Endless delays, being sidetracked, and getting next to nothing done.
But that all changes effective rightnow. Our year has officially begun. And yes, this is the part that we've all been waiting for.
However, as I mentioned, forecasts or not, you have to actually get off your ass and start working for yourself on the path in which you hope to become successful. Outside forces can only do so much for you.
But what if following through with your action plan is going to be as easy as greased lightening? I know know how easy it'll be for you but I'm about to make your life infinitely easier right now.
I'm releasing my Motherload 2015 Resource Directory. This directory is the one that is equivalent to my "personal Rolodex" of private investors, high (including 100%) LTV funding sources, partnership groups, and transactional "wet" funding sources.
And I've never included so many resources in a single directory before because there have been a slew of new resources that have come into the picture since our economy has started on its steady upward trend.
You see, everything about building a real estate empire has to do with using OPM or other people's money. And if you don't have access to these powerful money resources, you're basically dead in the water unless you're already a multi-millionaire with plenty of liquidity.
One of the resources I'm most exited about is a new transactional funder. For those of you who want to take advantage of the tail end of the flipping phenomenon, you can by using deferred wet funds. If you want to know a little about how this works, click here.
Some of you may recall but I shared with you a success story where my student, Stephen Scott, went from living in a hotel room in Texas to acquiring $18 million totaling 630 apartment units in just 26 months.
That just over 2 years!
Quite amazing, if you think about it!
So, I was able to twist his arm (not really) and he agreed to speak on Day 2 of the upcoming event that I'm having on September 13th and 14th in Los Angeles. This is where he will lay out, step by step, exactly how he started from nothing and got to where he is in only 2 paltry years.
If you don't think this information will be instrumental to your success then don't come. To me, this is one of those moments in your life where you get to decide how serious you are in building financial freedom with one of the most powerful ways of investing there is: apartment building investing.
I was watching television this morning and one of those annoying real estate infomercials popped up with Armando Montelango. His pitch is to suck people into some free seminar where he (or rather his trained cronies) will sell you to death on some course and possibly a mentorship (or one of those bus tours) for tens of thousands of dollars.
My first thought was: what the hell did he do to his hair? It looks very...feminine. I think he was going for the "I'm a radical dude" superhero look but...it just doesn't work for him.
My second thought was: who the hell is stupid enough to fall for this cheesy sales pitch? What type of person does it take to sign up for a free even knowing that it won't be free and knowing that they're going to be sold on thousands of dollars of useless stuff?
Yet thousands of people are doing it otherwise he wouldn't be on the air luring people into his scam-like cesspool. You can't keep advertising if you can't keep finding the suckers to support the enterprise.
This is when it hit me.
I'm done with this part of my life. I don't have the power to talk people out of dealing with the likes of him nor do I want to anymore. If people want to be scammed, so be it. It's not my job to be Mommy Monica and save the world when it's pretty clear that there are too many people who like to be suckered.
Yes, that's right. They like to be suckered.
They thrive on sitting in a room for the thrill of being motivated. (This is why so many people join MLM programs yet most never make a dime but rather end up losing a small fortune in the process.) They thrive on the excitement, possibilities, and whatever other motivational spiel the used car salesman who is doing the "free training" throws at them.
But I don't do all that. I just give you the facts. You do this, this, and that and you can have at least $20,000 per month in passive income coming into your bank account like clockwork.
I know...pretty boring in comparison, isn't it?
Then I also realized something else: I'm tired. Yes. Tired. It seems that my entire future is shifting into a different direction and I have a very well laid out plan which, unfortunately, no longer includes any training of any kind.
And what is this plan?
Keep building my health supplement company (because it requires so little brain power yet is so incredibly profitable), focus on my UCLA Professional Program (starting in September), possibly start working on my MFA next year from a UC school, and keep acquiring small, manageable, yet incredibly profitable apartment buildings.
As you can see from my "New Life" schedule above, that leaves no room for anything else.
What about that book I was talking about?
Yes, I've been thinking about the book. But these days the thinking is more about how I don't want to do the book. So, yes, I've been thinking about it but not in the context you may have thought.
Here's a little rule about how life works for those of you who haven't caught on yet: in order to have new things happen, you have to ditch some of the old things. This goes for physical stuff like old clothes and crap you don't use anymore. It goes for relationships. It goes for businesses, jobs, careers, etc. It goes for everything. Out with the old, in with the new.
I didn't want to freak some of my students out who were starting to get nervous about my exit. And, as I mentioned before, I will still be offering my information via CD and as downloads. If I revise something or create a new course, I'll let you know. But all the rest of the stuff needs to go to the wayside until I can reboot my mental, emotional, and physical systems right now.
My recommendation to you is that you join me in September. I recommend you come to see Stephen Scott speak so you can fully understand how one of my students went from nothing to a multi-millionaire in only 2 years.
If he can do it, you can do it.
And yes, this is a one-time opportunity that will not be repeated.
If you ever wonder how or why I've been as successful as I have, it's because of networking, meeting people, meeting investors, and getting out there. And, the last time I checked, you can't do that when you're sitting behind your keyboard at home.
