I received a somewhat surprising email from my Texas investor partner this past weekend that sort of surprised me, especially since he's from Houston.
He said this, "Tell your students that I'm not taking deals for partnership in Houston right now. There has been some new information having to do with the oil industry that has been disturbing which will cause major shrinkage in that industry. This will greatly affect the Houston apartment building and housing market."
Hmmmmmm...
He should know. He knows the market better than anyone I know. And if he's saying that Houston is not a good idea right now then maybe Houston isn't a good idea right now.
Something about the Houston market has always bothered me since the beginning of our recession/depression (back in 2005...remember that year?): Houston was the only real estate market that never fell apart. As far as I can tell, it didn't feel any recessive pinch like the rest of the markets have. It's like a ball bouncing up and never coming down. It defied all economic laws like no other area of the country I've ever seen.
Of course, I'm only 40 so there's probably a lot of economic things I haven't seen or known in my lifetime. So, I just chalked it off as a circus freak show like a two-headed serpent or the bearded lady and never gave it a second thought.
Then when I received this email I started thinking...Is it really possible that while every city in America -- including those that have seen the most economic devastation like Detroit, Cleveland, and Memphis -- is starting to boom, that a place as financially solid as Houston has always been could now come crumbling down?
Yes, this could very well be the case. In fact, if economic laws never fail, Houston inevitably will have to undergo it's own economic recession even if every other city in the United States is booming at the same time.
Coincidentally, I was just reading in Bloomberg Business Week last week about how Houston is going to start feeling the pinch due to oil prices falling and oil companies (who have headquarters in Houston) cutting back. Insofar, they have actually been cutting back for quite awhile now including laying people off.
And that's never good for the housing market whether you have apartment rentals or you're trying to sell a single-family home.
Between the fall in gas/oil prices and, ultimately, our mass consciousness going into the more "green" direction of utilizing solar and battery power for cars, it is becoming more and more clear that these oil giants won't stay financially relevant forever. It's only a matter of time that every dinosaur eventually dies to make way for new cutting-edge and more efficient ways of doing things.
Unless Houston becomes the center of another type of industry, I'm afraid we're looking at a Detroit replay over time. It may not become so devastatingly bad but if you work the equation the way it is, I don't see how else Houston could fare in the battle of trying to stuff an obsolete resource down people's throats; this would be just as effective as, say, trying to sell people buggy whips in today's day and age. It would only work if you're selling the whip to city of dominatrix's and I'm not sure there's enough of them around to support an entire market, especially that of the size of Houston. (Hey, maybe the oil could double as "lube" for the dominatrix's activities.)
So, it seems that Houston didn't avert the depression after all. Unfortunately for the Houston market, while the rest of us in America are enjoying an economy that's better than what the Roaring 20s kicked out almost a century ago, Houston will be eating beans out of a can under a bridge and crying over its own financial calamity. But as far as I see it, when we all have to pay the piper, we ALL have to pay the piper. Nobody gets a fr*ee ride.
Are you surprised at this Houston economic verdict for 2015? I am. Sort of. Then, on the other hand, I'm not due to it always seeming "unfair" that they never felt the squeeze when every last one of us did. Now it's their turn.
The unfortunate thing for this dose of bad news for Houston is that it won't be an easy case of the financial squeezes and it won't be a short-term recession either. This one if for the long haul so...if you own property in Houston, be prepared. If you're thinking about buying property in Houston, think again.
How do you know if I'm right or not?
Well, first of all, I'll be the first to admit that I'm not always right but I'm right about 99.999% of the time, and those are pretty good odds. Second, although I suspected that the Houston market would eventually have to come to terms with the recession the rest of us have been schlepping through for the past 9 years, I actually stopped thinking (and ultimately caring) about Houston back in 2010 when I myself stopped investing there.
Let me remind you that the bulk of this "warning" about the upcoming Houston economic pinch isn't coming from me but rather someone who is highly familiar with the market. This man is much older than I am and much wiser in the world of real estate investing. When he tells me to stayaway from his home town (which, I may add, he's completely in love with) because of an impending financial crunch then trust me when I say I'll be fullyheeding to his warning.
There are too many other cities you can still make money in and completely circumvent Houston while staying in Texas (if that's where you want to invest). There's Dallas/Fort Worth which is an extremely profitable set of cities. There is Waco which is also a solid cash flowing city for multifamily real estate. There's also San Antonio, Lubbock, Amarillo and Corpus Christi to name a few. (Stay away from border cities like El Paso and Laredo because of issues with drug trafficking. Also, Austin has low CAP rates and tends to be overpriced for what it is.)
I don't know about you but I'm done with this year. I've already ripped down every single one of my 2014 calendars all though out my office and my house. And I did this before Christmas even. That's how done I am of the year 2014.
Even worse (or better), I survived 2 very long lonely days: Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Having no family makes this particular time of the year excruciatingly painful from an emotional perspective. So...glad that's over! (And I thank the TV gods for the Lifetime Movie Network for surviving another holiday!)
So now, it's back to business for me even though we have one more holiday left. (But I've blown past the most difficult of the year so...we're all good!)
I like to hit the ground running, especially as we're going into 2015 next week.
One thing that keeps coming up over and over again is this 100% LTV Bond Funding Program. Since this is one of the ways I'm now acquiring property, I wanted to explain a little more about the program.
When I did the Detroit event last month, Ronnie presented the basic criteria of the bond program which included, at the time, a minimum property price of $5,000,000. However, the Monday after the seminar, he received a new updated criteria sheet from his bond funders who had dropped the minimum purchase price to $1,000,000.
The reason I'm telling you this is because I'm sick of getting emails from students who either attended the Detroit event or watched the videos who apparently don't believe me when I keep telling you guys and gals over and over again via email that the minimum property price has dropped from $5,000,000 to $1,000,000. I don't know how to be more clear and this is the last time I'll be mentioning this change to you.
Next, you'll have to have a property that can support a 100% LTV mortgage at about an 8% fixed interest rate (30-year amortized). In areas of the country that have low CAP rates like Seattle or Los Angeles or New York...you're not going to be able to make a 100% LTV property cash flow unless you're knocking 50% off the asking price. And no seller will accept that offer from you. Instead, you'll have to focus in on areas of the country that can support 100% LTV deals after, of course, you shave off 10% to 15% off the asking price of any property you're looking at (which you should always do when buying a property anyway).
Where are these areas of the country?
Smaller "big" cities like Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Atlanta, and Memphis to name a few make excellent areas to work with. Any area that doesn't have low CAP rates (as an average) that consistently fall below 8% across the board.
Remember, your 100% LTV has to be supported by the cash flow of the property. Deciding to invest in low CAP rate cities will guarantee that you'll end up with a negative cash flow property and your bond funders won't fund a negative cash flow deal.
Next, I have students asking me why the funders want to see that you have 1% to 2% of the purchase price of the property when it's a 100% LTV bond funded loan. The funders need to see that you are somewhat financially sound to the point where, when walking into the property after closing, you can pay for any upgrades, repairs, or get any units (needing new paint and carpet) rent-ready for new tenants. There's nothing worse than funding a property to find out that the lender has funded someone who doesn't have 2 nickels to rub together and can't do basic things for a property if needed.
Also, my students want to know about credit criteria. These funders will allow for people to have some credit issues/problems. I do recommend that if you don't have good personal credit and you don't have built business credit, start getting it together, bub. This upcoming year isn't one to be messing around and dragging ass otherwise you'll lose out on every last opportunity out there!
Seems pretty severe and unbelievable, doesn't it? That there could be a "secret" having to do with your Christmas tree that can make or break your success for all of the upcoming 2015 year?
Yep, it's true. And no, I didn't believe it at first either. It seemed more like an old wives tale than anything until I actually started to take notice of what happened with and without the Christmas tree.
It was Christmas 2010 when I first noticed. A little birdie (who we'll call Ron Espinoza) told me that if you take your Christmas tree down before the New Year then you'll have "bad luck" all that year. But...if you keep your tree up until AFTER the New Year then you'll have "good luck" for the entire year.
I laughed. How stupid is that concept?!
Then I noticed...or maybe allowed the "belief" of this new information to settle in. For Christmas 2010, I had my brother and his kids sleep over. For anyone who knows my brother, they'd know him as a neat freak who likes to clean, put stuff away, and even throw away things that we still need (such as storage boxes, etc.) because he hates clutter. So...on Christmas Day -- yes, you read that correctly -- he took down my Christmas tree right after everyone opened all their gifts. The tree and every reminiscence of Christmas was gone by Christmas afternoon.
Fast forward to 2011...starting with the first quarter of the year, to be exact. I got the fiscal crap beat out of me in family court by getting hammered with an ungodly sum of child and spousal support payments from my greedy 2nd hubby. This, of course, was after I signed off on the last of my remaining partnerships (as to not have to go into personal bankruptcy) so that the greedy jerk wouldn't get half of my millions in property equity. That capped off the loss of over $7,000,000.
Progressing into the second quarter of 2011...I found out that my dad was embezzling from my company. And if that wasn't bad enough, so was my trusted assistant at the time. During this time I decided (probably inappropriately) to get married to hubby #3. (That didn't end well.)
The final two quarters of the year were a blur. I was exhausted, miserable, hating life (and everyone in it), and treading water in every way imaginable. I moved my warehouse during this time into an energy-sucking vortex of a building that was, of all things, haunted to boot; this is where the remaining balance of my energy and enthusiasm evaporated each moment I stayed there. Eventually it would disappear to nearly nothing.
By Christmas of 2011, I still wasn't convinced about the Christmas tree thing. The little birdie reminded me about it...again. I'm like...so what? I put up a pop-up tree that takes about 60 seconds to put up and 30 seconds to take down. Disgusted at how horrible 2011 was, I wanted it to end, starting with taking down the tree quickly! It was gone and out of my house by the next morning.
You can imagine that 2012 probably wasn't that great either. It wasn't bad from a financial standpoint, as I'm lucky to always have the "magical" ability to make money. But my personal life was in shambles. It seemed that every moment of that year, every cell in my body was feeling some level of deep emotional depression. It wasn't a great year either but certainly not as traumatic as 2011.
So...Christmas 2012: I left the freaking tree up. Yes, I left it up over New Year's Eve and even several days past the New Year. (I know. Talk about living "dangerously" and living on the edge, right?)
How did 2013 turn out? Freaking fantastic in every way. Sure, I was still going through my emotional pain and filed for divorce later that year. But it was still good and I knew things would get better.
I left the tree up over the New Year from 2013 to 2014.
What happened with 2014?
This year has been AMAZING!!
Okay, so my divorce from who I feel is the love of my life was finalized on St. Paddy's Day but I feel fantastic. I turned 40 this year and it's been an amazing year financially, physically, mentally, and even emotionally where it's been hurting the most all these years. I feel more empowered and...it's been amazing.
So...will I be leaving my Christmas tree up between now and next week? You bet I will! Planned date for Christmas tree disassembly and storage will be 1/4/2015.
And I plan on 2015 being my best freaking year yet due to a very important contract I just signed last week (that I won't tell you about until sometime next month). And no, it's not a property deal contract.
Thinking back, I tried to remember what I did with my tree during the Christmas of 2009. Come to think of it, it was a live tree. My lazy 2nd hubby wouldn't take it down because the stump was stuck in the metal base part that holds it up. So the tree not only stayed up over that New Year's Eve but I seem to remember the freaking tree stump stuck in the base sitting on our back porch well into spring when my brother had to take a hack saw to it.
And 2010 was one of my best financial years ever!
Think twice about taking your Christmas tree down before the first of the year. In fact, to be safe, wait until the first weekend of the new year before taking it down. Then you'll have a kick ass 2015 like I will.
Superstitious? I don't know. Who cares? What do you have to lose by waiting to take your tree down until after January 1st?
And think about it: what if I'm right about everything I just said? Wouldn't it be worth it to just wait and see what happens?? (I think so!)
Before I get into this important matter, I want to let you know why I believe this is integral to bring to your attention. Starting in 2015, I'm going to be bringing more and more investor partnership opportunities to my students which is why I think it's essential that you learn what to do and, most importantly, what NOT to do in an investor partnership situation. Knowing how to conduct yourself and what's expected of you as a student participating in multi-million-dollar investor partnership deals can financially change your life so it's critical that you understand these elements in order to, well...not screw it up like some of my students have.
Last week I sent you an email about how to handle relationships with investor partners or any "money people," for that matter. I used a student who I call Mr. NYC as an example of what NOT to do. And if that wasn't enough of what NOT to do, Mr. NYC decided today to permanently blacklist himself.
How did he manage to screw up such an amazing opportunity? Well, I'm going to explain it to you so that when you are in the process of dealing with any money people (investor partners, lenders, bankers, etc.), you conduct yourself with 100% professionalism while being nice in the process because that -- in and of itself -- will take you a lot further than you think!
Now, as you remember, Mr. NYC was the only one in my entire Detroit seminar group who has refused to follow instructions for the $9,000,000 Opportunity by sending his property deal over to me in the form of a PDF file, which I have no use for. Not only did he refuse to send over the Excel spreadsheet as requested several times but he wanted to act like a childish asshole by sending me the same PDF file over and over again...about 8 or so times in a row just to solidify the fact that he wanted to be a jerk-off (all the while burning all of his bridges with The Opportunity). My response to each and every one of his PDF emails was to ask for the required CFE in the form of an Excel spreadsheet.
And I asked for this same Excel spreadsheet over and over and over again, not entirely sure how to make myself anymore clear except to put a 150-foot blinking red neon sign in Central Park for Mr. NYC to see saying, "Send me the f****** CFE in a f****** Excel spreadsheet format already!"
So, after these numerous fruitless email exchanges (that did nothing but waste my time), I sent that email to all of you last week to make sure that you all fully understand what you need to do in order to not burn your bridges with your money people. I find that learning from the mistakes of others is the fastest, easiest, and, of course, most entertaining way to learn something.
Today I get the rude and vile email from Mr. NYC who cussed me out in the worst and most non-gentlemanly way (and if he said any of it to my face, he would have been laid out in the parking lot with a bloody nose) while demanding that I send the deal over to my guy in Texas.
Okay, here's the problem with that. First of all, the deal sucks. It's a portfolio that isn't broken up (like it HAS to be in order to be presented to my investor partner). Second, when my investor partner asks me how it is to work with Mr. NYC, what the f*** am I going to say? "Yeah, he's a peach. Most awesome guy I've ever met."
No! Absolutely not. I have an agreement with each one of my investor partners which totals about 13 that I work with regularly now. And I have to give them the run-down of what it's like to work with this student.
And here's myreport for Mr. NYC:
Rude, pushy
Not very bright; a box of rocks can probably figure more out than he can
Refuses to follow basic instructions, as clearly laid out for him MULTIPLE times
Will not abide by any simple request
Cannot get the appropriate information on the property in a reasonable time, or AT ALL in this case
Is a total jerk-off, thinks he's "the man" and can push people around, possibly because he's from New York?
Do I recommend working with this guy? Is this guy going to be easy to deal with in negotiations? Is he going to make the process of managing the property easier or harder? When we ask for a quarterly report, are we going to get it on time? Or at all??
You probably know the answers to those questions with Mr. NYC.
In the past I've been a little lax when it comes to working with students on my own investor partnership deals which I stopped doing back in 2010 and I'm going to start doing again come the first of this year. But when it comes to my investor partners, I'm very strict with who I let through only because it's MY reputation on the line if things go south. Every single investor partner ALWAYS asks me what this student is like. ALWAYS!! And Inever lie about my experience with a student. Never. I'm not going to start now.
This is why I like meeting my students at events, especially after hours during dinners and at cocktail hour where I'm more relaxed and so are they. All the while, I'm reading my students to see what they're like. I can deal with people who don't have a lot of smarts or experience as long as they are easy to get along with. It's amazing what I'll put up with so long as my students have one simple quality: easy to get along with. That's my onlycriterion. (Surprising, isn't it?!)
Yet Mr. NYC seems to have screwed that up. And then he has the nerve to "demand" that I send the deal to my investor partner, all while expecting me to apologize for...I guess having some basic requirements of how to send me a file set into place, I guess. Yeah, okay. Hold your breath for that one, Mr. NYC. It's clear that he has no clue as to who he's dealing with. Apparently he thinks it's still 1952 and that "demanding" women bow down to his beck and call is the way to conduct himself. He messed with the wrong bitch on the right day.
So, here I am trying to dissect this situation. It goes back to self-sabotage, I think. How else can a reasonably "normal" person take a $9,000,000 Opportunity and manage to screw it up so badly in only a few days time? That would be someone who subconsciously doesn't believe he's worthy of success, I guess.
I never had a $9,000,000 Opportunity to work with back in the day. I never had investor partners to work with when I started out. I didn't have jack shit except my burning desire to do this and the unwillingness to accept no for an answer. And with that I was able to become successful...slowly, over time, and with a lot of elbow grease.
Yet here I am giving my students an opportunity that I could have very well hoarded for myself and yet I opened it up to my students so that they could benefit from something I didn't have when I started. I thought I was doing my students a good deed. Turns out that, for some, it's something I need to apologize for because, as Mr. NYC stated, I don't have any ethics. Hmmmm...if I didn't have any ethics, I would have taken the $9,000,000 Opportunity for myself and said nothing to NONE of my students about it even though my investor partner wanted deals from a variety of people in different areas of the country. However, we have a deal in escrow, one more that will be in escrow as soon as the seller signs the contract (hopefully this time next week), several more going under contract as we speak, and the first of these deals set to close in 2 weeks. And none of these deals are mine. They all belong to my students. But, I guess I don't have any "ethics," as Mr. NYC claims. (If you want to see how "no ethics" work, go hook up with the likes of Armando Montelongo who will take $30,000 from you just to give you a property bus tour, whatever the hell that is. Then you'll realize that I'm an angel in comparison!)
I'm convinced that some people just don't want success and they'll create their own conscious and subconscious obstacles just so that they can boo-hoo to everyone about how life is so unfair. That's all fine and well. I just wish they wouldn't include me in their personal psychological clusterf*** because I have better shit to do with my time right now.
As far as Mr. NYC is concerned? Who knows what he'll do. I think he's too stubborn to understand how to work with investor partners. Or maybe it's that New York attitude that's ruining everything. Some of those New Yorkers are so freaking rude and self-entitled that you wonder how they'd ever work with someone who's NOT in NYC. (My Texas investor partner is such a nice guy that it would never work out with someone who is as pushy as Mr. NYC is anyway. I believe everything happens for a reason and Mr. NYC put himself "out there" as a jerk-off as to protect my relationship with my investor partner which may have otherwise been ruined because of what an asshole he turned out to be.)
If you're one of those people who finds out that the world is against you, maybe the world really isn't against you. Maybe it's just you who is againstyourself. I know...tough truth to consider but worth considering (and fixing) if you want a different life than the one you have now.
Well, today started off reasonably happy. I volunteered in my daughter's classroom for approximately 25 minutes where I was put to good use: consolidating bottles of Elmer'sglue. But hey, it's a brainless task and sometimes we need those once in awhile, right? Especially during this hectic (and mostly un-enjoyable) time of year for me...and many others, I'd imagine.
Of course, those happy moments of glue compiling were short-lived the moment I came into the office for...yep, you guessed it. A pile of over 200 new emails waiting for me which, of course, reflects that 90% of the people who email me have an "emergency" of some kind. (In which I fantasize about responding in the rudest way saying, "Please hang up and dial 9-1-1." Or rather, "Please cease emailing me and go jump off a bridge.")
Now, I say that in jest, of course. Most of my students are incredibly amazing people. Let's be clear about that! But it happens to be those handful of screw-ups and those I'm convinced have ridden (and are still riding) the short bus through life that really messes up my good mojo for the day.
And today, I must mention, there are several of those.
One in particular would be someone who is adamant and outright hellbent on not following basic instructions.
Now, a little back story: When I did the Detroit event last month, I presented an incredible life-changing opportunity in which my students who attended (and only those who attended) could participate in The $9,000,000 Opportunity. An investor partner who I've been working with for -- forever, it seems -- is ponying up $9,000,000 cash (not including due diligence and closing costs) to put down as a 20% cash down payment which will result in the acquisitions of about $45,000,000 in property between now and this coming spring.
Pretty good deal, don't you think?
In fact, one portfolio we put under contract last month is set to close the first week of the year. And we just put 2 more under contract in the past 2 weeks; one of these 2 deals is a property located in the greater Detroit area (one county removed...not sure it's really "Detroit" but close enough). One more deal will more than likely go under contract right before (or after) Christmas...whenever we can get the listing agent to wake up out of his holiday stupor.
[As a side note, if you want to get a gander at how -- when I tell my students that opportunity in a certain area is coming (as I've been saying since 2011) -- I'm usually right 99% of the time. Check out this video when you get a chance about how Detroit is bouncing back: https://www.yahoo.com/travel/detroit-bouncing-back-from-bankruptcy-by-bianna-105564601702.html. (This is why I've been working in this area for the past 3 years.)]
So...I can't really complain that every single one of my students who attended the Detroit event this past month is following instructions as presented on a clearly illustrated bulleted one-page flyer. All students, except for one, of course. (There's always that ONE person that can't follow basic freaking instructions.)
Well call this difficult student "Mr. NYC" since that's where he brags he's from with each and every event he attends of mine. (Yes, he's been to several events.) Now, Mr. NYC is a nice guy. I actually like him.
However, what I don't like is that Mr. NYC refuses to follow freaking instructions!!
Let me give you a little clue-in on how ALL of my partnership arrangements work with my investor partners. They've all gotten used to looking at things on my CFE (Cash Flow Evaluator, which you can get at www.monicamain.com/cfe if you don't have it yet). And they like to get these files in the form of an Excel spreadsheet rather than a PDF because they can change the numbers in certain respective columns if they want to "test out" different scenarios such as lowering management costs, lowering the interest rate (since many work with local banks that can give them killer interest rates), lowering the asking price (to see where the cash flow will be), increasing rents, etc. to see where their cash flow numbers land.
And in case you haven't figured it out yet, you can't do all this with a PDF file. You can't do any of this with a muddy fax or a printed out CFE file.
Yet Mr. NYC keeps sending me the same f****** file in every way imaginableEXCEPTthe required Excel file format as clearlyoutlined during the event.
Even worse, he calls my staff all day every day (since the beginning of this f****** week) wondering what I think about the deal.
First of all, the first PDF file he sent me had a ridiculous negative cash flow of something close to losing $9,000 a month. Yes, a $9,000 a monthLOSS in the PDF file (of the CFE). Yeah...where do I sign up for that kind of shit deal?? (Apparently with Mr. NYC.)
So, I rejected the deal based on (1) not receiving the required Excel format of the CFE, and (2) because we will not invest in a property that's taking ANY kind of loss. Period. (Isn't that common sense, folks? I thought so, too.)
If that rejection wasn't enough, he sends the same deal by way of overnight express. Yep, in the mail. Same exact deal. So, at this point we're getting further and further away from my basic requirement of getting this deal in the form of an Excel spreadsheet via email. Rose tried to give me the envelope and I refused to take it. Why? Because...what am I supposed to do with it? Since my investor partner is taking deals via emailONLY, what do I do? Send the printed out CFE to him in the mail? And, yet again, he can't do any of the things I outlined above (changing the numbers in certain columns) with a print-out of the deal.
Years ago I learned some hard lessons about not following directions. So, I've learned when I can buck the system and when I need to fall in line like an order-taking soldier. And when you're working with Other People's Money (OPM), you must -- I repeat MUST-- fall in line as an order-taking soldier. Period. No exceptions. You cannot make your own rules when using all of someone else's resources (especially money) unless your somebody like Warren Buffett. But, if you're not Warren Buffett, fall in line, soldier! Fall in line!!
Here's the other thing I learned when working with investor partners -- or any kind of partners (including that of marriage, believe it or not) -- is that you have to be easy to work with. Wow. What a freaking concept! You mean that the wealthy people holding the purse strings don't want to deal with jerk-offs and assholes when doing deals or funding projects? Especially idiots who refuse to follow instructions? Yep, you got it, Bucko. Millionaires and billionaires who want to do business and investment partnerships have to know that you're willing to concede to their basic requests and requirements...and that you're easy to work with. If not, they'll fund one of the many other people out there with kick-ass deals and businesses that are easy to work with. Simple as that.
So...back to Mr. NYC who can't (or won't) send over the right file.
Here we are in the very beginning phase of this process (not even getting to first base yet) and we are already experiencing a high level of difficulty. How is the rest of the process going to be when it comes to getting due diligence done or asking for financial docs on the deal? What about management? How's that going to work out? It'll be a nightmare, that's what.
I've been working with some of my investor partners for over a dozen years and I know what they guys want and who they like to work with. The other thing that a lot of my students don't know is that these investor partners ask me what I think of the student who is submitting the deal over. And I have never lied to any of my investor partners of what I think of a specific student sending a deal over and I never will. My reputation requires me to be 100% honest with them when it comes to this otherwise they'll never partner in on another deal again.
I'll also mention that there have been more than a few really solid kick-ass deals that we've ended up rejecting and not doing at all due to oneelementonly: a difficult student coming in as an investor partner.
A word to the wise: whenever dealing with any money people -- including money brokers, banks, lenders, and investor partners -- you have to give them what they want while being an amicable person. If you can't do that then...do something else and leave this business alone.
Am I being too harsh here? I don't think so. I think one of the reasons so many of my students keep reading my emails and continue learning from me is because I'm real. I tell you the real truths about how the business world works. And if you don't want the real deal, go buy an infomercial guru's course and learn how the fake world of investing works. See how far that gets you.
But if you want to know how the real world works, hang with me, kid. Because this ride is about to get real fun really fast in the months to come. (And I can hardly wait!)
First off, I'm crashing due to a 10-day graduate obligation I had in Palm Springs that just ended this past Sunday. And I'm freaking exhausted!
Then I saw Ruth. She's the one who has cancer. I hadn't seen her for months as she's been battling the disease. She informed me that they had to stop treatment. The subtext of that sentence was that...well, not too hard to figure out. When I saw her today, I was looking at someone who is not only clearly dying but probably won't make it another year on this earth. To look in the face of death and then to look at her son who is barely 6 years old, knowing that he's about to lose his mother...tough moment. Very tough.
And if that wasn't enough, on my way back to the office, I got a call that my dad is in the hospital and has been in the hospital since last Saturday night. When I called him on the phone at the hospital, he sounded weak but well. And I also found out that if he wasn't rushed to the hospital last weekend, he would have passed away. Instead of typing out this email, I would have been making arrangements instead.
So...some heavy moments today. Very heavy. And I'm not sure what to think of it all except to say one thing: you never know when it's going to be over until it's over.
I think about Ruth. She knows she's dying. There was a split second of emotional weakness where I saw tears well up in her eyes the moment she told me that they stopped treatment. It was the moment that revealed that she'd given up hope.
And hope is everything.
My mom died of cancer more than 9 years ago. The moment she lost hope was the moment that she died. Actually, it took 6 weeks after she officially gave up for her body to die.
I saw that loss of hope today with Ruth. And I knew that a part of her had already died; she's just waiting for the body to go now.
What a depressing, sad day. Top it all off and we're having rain, rain, and more freaking rain. I know we need it in our drought-devastated state of California but we can only handle so much at a time before the state starts land-sliding and flooding due to the damage from the fires.
A couple of weeks ago I was having a conversation with my young daughter about all the crap that the government is spraying in the skies in a desperate effort to change the climate/weather. I explained to her that, unfortunately, when you are spraying chemicals, there are adverse effects to such acts including problems with health such as getting cancer, for instance.
You know what this wise young lady told me?
She said, "Well, I don't have cancer now so I'm not going to worry about it."
And I had no rebuttal because...well, what can one say to that? But I thought...Well said, little one. Well said.
Now I have to remind myself of that now. Right now, in fact.
With so many depressing things happening in the world coupled with these shitty commercially-driven "joyous" holidays coming up, I tend to get pulled down into a cesspool equivalent to a saber-tooth tiger sinking into a tar pit, never to see the light of day.
However...at the precise time that all this crap is happening, I'm on the verge of a major breakthrough that will not only be life-changing to me but can also be life-changing to the world as well. (More on this in the weeks to come; it's freaking exciting!!) Yes, that's right.
Last Saturday I was contacted by someone (and I won't mention who...yet) about something (and I won't mention what...yet) that will be incredibly huge!! (I promise to let you in on the secret in a few weeks. I just don't want to jinx myself here.)
What keeps me going through the holidays is knowing that soon -- very soon -- they'll be OVER! Yes, that's right, troops. This crap will blow over before you know it. If you think about it, we're so close to the finish line. Two weeks and 2 days away!!
And you can handle 16 more days, right?
What I keep telling my students is that 2015 is going to be an exceptional year for many of you who decide to participate in...well, anything! Yes, anything that is profit-generating will succeed and in order to not be successful, you'd basically have to be handcuffed to an iron headboard in the basement of Hannibal Lecter's house to miss out.
Even though success has always come "easy" to me (because I'm focused, I go for it, and Idon't accept failure as an option), it'll come even easier. And it'll come easy for you too IFyou get off your dead ass and do something about it.
That's the key. You have to zero in on what you want, get this warrior focus thing going, create a simple easy-to-do action plan, and follow the simple steps. And that's it, folks. It doesn't get any harder than that.
Now, I should mention that today is the day that I'm also letting my students in on something I'm going to be doing next year (within the first quarter of 2015) that will blow your mind. And you should check it out here: http://www.monicamain.com/internet_cash_flow_blitz
Check it out for a short but powerful audio seminar that will get you excited. It's something my students have been waiting about 7 months for!
By the way, doesn't it take talent to take a message from totally depressing to totally exciting within mere minutes? I think so.
And that's how easy your success for 2015 is about to get!
See you at the top!
Your mentor,
Monica Main
www.MonicaMain.com
P.S. The BOGO deal for the Mentorship Groups in 2015 is going on and some of my groups are getting full. I can only take a limited number of students for each group so click on this link if you want in on the deal: http://www.monicamain.com/buy_1_get_1_free_mentorship
P.P.S. Monica Bucks is still available but only for a short time left. Here's the link for that deal: http://www.monicamain.com/monica_bucks_2014
I thought I was going to be fine with all this holiday madness, unlike every other holiday season. I was getting myself in the mood, singing corny Christmas tunes, and even telling my daughter how this year will be "different" because I'm embracing the holidays now.
Yeah...okay. So that was soooooo yesterday.
Today is a different story. Very different story
Let's start off with me catching Sometimey Bitch's dog crapping in my yard today. And how she didn't clean it up because she figured no one was looking...the fake ass phony bitch that she is.
But that really isn't my issue. People are people and that's the least "sinful" you could possibly get, especially after you hear what I have to tell you next.
I just found out (by my dad) that my brother was almost killed on Thanksgiving night.
Yep. Almost murdered.
Let me remind you that my brother is a single parent of 2 teenagers (who were with him when all this went down) and his daughter (who just turned 14) is disabled. (She hasmuscular distrophy and is also mentally challenged).
So...here it is during a "happy" holiday season and we have a couple of gang-bangers who decide to ram the back-end off my brother's Ford Explorer as he's driving home...somewhere in the time frame of slightly after 11pm the night of Thanksgiving. They hit his Explorer so hard that the bumper instantly came off. And one of his break/tail lights cracked into a million pieces.
They then tried knocking him off the road by side-swiping him. They indicated that they wanted him to pull over.
One thing about my brother -- even though he's not the brightest upstairs -- is incredibly street smart. And he knew not to pull over or succumb to being bumped off the road. The good news is that his vehicle was bigger than theirs so...bumping him off the road wasn't an option.
My brother decided to slam on the breaks and fell back in traffic, losing the gang-bangers in the crowd. (The good thing about LA traffic is that there are always lots of cars on the road.)
If he would have been forced off the road, I'm guessing that these crazy lunatics would have probably opened fire on my brother and his 2 kids. Anybody that insane to start hitting people's cars at full speed with their own vehicle is doing it to go the entire distance, if you know what I mean. It's not like shooting someone with a paintball gun or throwing a can of soda on someone's windshield. By the time you're taking your own vehicle and ramming it up the ass of someone else's at over 70 miles per hour...you're looking for some major physical altercation, more than likely resulting in someone's death.
Maybe it's just me but, quite honestly, I'm getting tired of people being so hateful and violent. It's getting old. I guess I'm not understanding why people don't choose to be respectful to their fellow human beings because all we have is each other. If you don't like other people, great. Just keep to yourself. How difficult is that??
Maybe that's part of my depression now...or part of my depression that I always seem to have that never seems to go away, lingering like the black cloud that it is for as long as I can remember. Too many people are mean, ruthless, and dangerous to others. I thinkeveryone gets to the point where we've all had enough.
So...even though I predict that 2015 will be a prosperous year for many, I also predict that some violent things may come to a head here in the United States. And maybe that's the way it needs to be. After unrest comes rest. When things have been coming to a head for so long, something has to give. When it does, things may be a disaster for awhile but at least everyone will know where they stand. And maybe some boundaries will be set in place, in the very least.
The best you can do as a respectable higher-level spiritual being is to try sending love when you can while avoiding catastrophe at the same time.
Maybe driving on the freeway through LA at midnight isn't the most brilliant plan, which is probably why my dad had to tell me what happened instead of my brother telling me himself. (Because he'd know that I'd ream his ass out!)
Maybe staying at home to watch Dancing with the Stars may be a more prudent idea than showing up to some kind of potentially violent protest somewhere.
Maybe staying focused while learning something new is a better blueprint for unraveling a positive future than hanging out with people who just aren't servicing your life anymore.
I have a unique belief and that is this: it seems that as time moves forward even faster than ever (thanks to technology and other advancements), people either need to step into the light or then need to recess into the dark. Whichever you choose is where you'll remain.
If you notice lately, things are becoming more and more transparent. You can't dupe people anymore if you're a politician, rapist, or criminal. You can't hide in the shadows or behind a high-pedestal title/ranking anymore without the light shining on you to reveal all of your secrets for all to see.
And the nice part about exercising free will is that you can choose at any time whether you want to be on the light side or the dark side. Having experienced both sides, I can tell you that the side of light is where you want to end up. Having seen the dark side, I will mention that -- for most who end up in such a place -- there is noescape. And last time I checked, eternity is a very long time.
The only way to end up in the light is to be the light. And you can't do that by being violent and spewing hatred throughout the world. You can only end up in the light by doing right by yourself and, perhaps most importantly, by others.
I'm grateful my brother and his 2 kids are okay. I've always known that he has a pretty powerful guardian angel alongside of my mom who is always watching out for him from "up there." But it still saddens me that these incidences are part of this disturbing place we call the earth plane of existence.
As we enter this holiday season (Christmas is next week already...hello) maybe instead of it being all about what gifts we can buy and what gifts we hope other people will give to us...maybe giving a smile to someone is enough. Or holding the door open for someone. Or giving a few bucks to a destitute bum on the street corner who doesn't believe there's a single human being that's in his corner.
Just making a difference, even in a small way. You don't have to be rich to make this world a better place for other people other than just being nice to your fellow man and woman. Just be nice, for crying out loud. That, in and of itself, will make all the difference!
See you at the top!
Your mentor,
Monica Main
www.MonicaMain.com
P.S. If you want to send a card/letter in the mail for those of us rallying to get Lea back for the first week of January, tomorrow will be the last chance you'll have to get that in the mail for me to get it on time!
A lot of people don't know this little "fun fact" about me but...I get coal in my stocking. And yes, I get coal every year.
How can this be?
Well, many of you know that I have a 6-year-old daughter and, of course, I go way overboard getting her Christmas gifts each year. (She's an only child so "spoiled" is an understatement.) Since I don't want to deal with the "fuss and muss" of wrapping my own gifts to put under the tree, I just get some coal and throw it into my stocking for a couple of reasons: (1) it's easy to do; no buying, wrapping, and wasting time on my own gifts for meto unwrap, and (2) I use it as a tool to keep my daughter in line as in..."See what happens when you're not a good girl all year?"
Every year the material in which the "coal" comes in varies. One year it was some kind of licorice. (I absolutely detest licorice, by the way.) One time it was gum that looked like coal. The year before, it was plastic. Last year it was real coal in a bag. This year I've already secured my "coal" purchase for my stocking. It's a "coal" stress ball, which I can actually make use of unlike all the other "coal" I've received in year's past.
But this whole "coal" thing got me thinking about a couple of very important key elements:
1) Why am I putting coal in my own stocking? How hard would it really be to buy myself a couple of things I really want, wrap it up, and put it under the tree so my daughter can see that I'm worthy of actually getting something??
2) How many of us are subconsciously putting "coal" in our own "stockings" in life by not seeing the good we deserve?? (Answer: all of us are doing this daily to ourselves!)
So, I promised myself that this will be the very last year I'll be putting coal in my own stocking. Next year? Maybe I'll buy a new Land Rover and have it delivered with a big red bow on it...and I'll throw the keys in my stocking instead of coal.
Or maybe I'll put an envelope with a trip to the Cayman Islands in my stocking.
Or maybe I'll stuff a new man in there. Okay. Maybe I'm getting out of hand here.
My point is: you can put whatever you want in your "stocking" of life. At any time. No exceptions. I don't care what anyone says.
I know this lifetime may have thrown more than enough challenges your way. One of the biggest challenges for most people is the money part of life. The economics don't seem to flow as well as you'd like them to.
And guess what? All that started in your head. You somehow, somewhere during your life travels believed it when someone said "making money is hard." When really, it isn't. In fact, I know of fewer things that are easier than making money.
To me, relationships are hard. Marriage, impossible. Dealing with people, for me, is difficult. Having family is arduous, most times. (Or shall I say, "What family??") Friends...almost impossible to make and keep. But I guess those are my personal issues/challenges for this lifetime.
Making money? Super freaking easy. Having "things"? As simple as snapping your fingers together.
How? I don't know. I wish I could describe how it works but it's sort of like this: I have this laser focus when it comes to the things I want. And once I focus on it, I block out the lip-flapping from the "chatter bugs" in my head that tend to tell me I can't do it. I not only block them out but I call out the pest control company and spray them out. And they become silent...forever. Never to speak another lick of negativity again.
Once I start working toward a goal (i.e. "action") then any and all doubt quickly subsides. Usually I'm shown other pathways and I remain flexible in the new pathways that I'm shown as I'm moving along. I enjoy my journey and I never really reach a destination because reaching the "end goal" means depression for me. (It's the moment when I say, "Is this it?" and that's never a good place for me to get to.) So, my life (and my projects) are constantly an ever-changing work of art. And that's what makes my life exciting.
Do you want to know why making money is so easy for me? Because there are tested and tried "rules" that never fail once you put them into action. It's like a mathematical equation that never fails. I use this when doing both Aggressive and Passive Income Strategies. I use tried and true equations. They never fail!
People fail. Equations never fail. And that's why I think I make them work so well. Math never lies. Math never cheats. Math is consistent as long as you follow through with the equation!
Here are a few tips for you:
1) Never do something just for the money without having a passion for it. If you do something "just for the money" then you won't make money at it. Pure and simple.
2) Guaranteed, anything you have a passion for, there is a way to make money with it. I don't care what anyone says.
3) Your biggest enemy is...(ready for it?) YOURSELF! You have to damper (or completely kill) that negative chatter in your head otherwise you'll psyche yourself out of every opportunity that life has afforded to you.
And finally...
Stop putting "coal" in your own "stocking," if you know what I mean.
See you at the top!
Your mentor,
Monica Main
www.MonicaMain.com
P.S. My Holiday Blow Out for the BOGO on the Mentorships (or 1/2 off) is in full swing. Here's the link: http://www.monicamain.com/buy_1_get_1_free_mentorship
P.P.S. Here are your Monica Bucks in case you didn't get them yet: http://www.monicamain.com/monica_bucks_2014
P.P.P.S. Last one, I promise. I'm still collecting "We Want You Back!" letters and cards for Lea. If you want to send one, please send it to: Global Success, Attn: Lea, 28170 Avenue Crocker, Suite 109, Valencia, CA 91355. Remember, I'm seeing her on Friday, December 19th for the holiday staff dinner. Time is running out if you want to get me a letter or card to pass onto her so we can get her ass out of retirement come January 2015!
These days it takes a lot for me to say, "What a stupid motherf*****!" in this business of training students but that's exactly what happened the other day when a student said the following:
"So...the bond people will accept 10 points (percent) that is rolled into the loan. Why do I have to pay the rest of the money back? Why won't they accept just the 10 points and that's it?"
Huh?
Okay, so I understand that maybe people don't understand how 100% LTV Bond Funding works but there's a difference between F*REE GRANT MONEY and a BOND FUNDING PROGRAM. And this is NOT f*ree grant money, to be crystal clear here in case there's an ounce of confusion among you! Bond funding is nodifferent than how a bank loan works and it needs to be paid back accordingly, as in monthly interest andprinciplepayments...just like any other bank loan.
You wouldn't buy a car and then tell the auto financing company..."Why do I need to pay the balance of my loan? Can't I just pay you the interest ON the loan and that's it? Why wouldn't you be happy with just that? Why do you want the rest of it?"
Try it and see if your car is still in the driveway after a few months. Chances are...the repo man will have had its way with your vehicle by then if you're that dense in how financing works.
If you were a bank that opened a mortgage on a property for $1,000,000 for somebody...would YOU be happy with receiving JUST the interest on the loan WITHOUTreceiving the principle back too?? Why would I have to even address such a stupid question to begin with...is what I simply don't understand!
It makes you wonder how some people have gotten this far in life without a lick of common sense lodged between their ears.
Let's try out this logic in real life to see how this could play out in your personal life. A friend of yours -- we'll call him Billy Bongo -- borrows $1,000 from you. He promises to pay you back in 30 days with interest of 10% (or $100). But then 30 days passes by and he shows up with only $100. You're like, "Billy Bongo -- you freaking schmuck! Where the f*** is the rest of it?" And Billy replies, "But I thought you only wanted the interest back?Why would I have to pay the rest?"
That's when you're Bongo-ing his ass out the front door so he can hit the nearest bank for the rest of the money he owes you. And if he doesn't come back with the money, you vow to find him in the nearest dark alley with your other friend, Billy Club...your prized baseball bat, to exercise a little Uncle Guido-style collection debt collection tactics.
Bond funding is no different than bank funding. Don't treat it any differently. The only real difference (which has absolutely nothing to do with you) is how they get the money. Think of it as "crowd funding" mixed with other investor raising capital methods...except all this is "behind the scenes" (don't mind the man behind the black curtain) and hasnothing to do with how you treat the money when you get it for your piece of investment real estate. You only think of it as a 100% LTV bank loan.
And yes, that includes having to pay the principle back (shocker!); in this case, it's over a 30-year amortized period of time like any other conventional bank loan. With interest. With the loan points rolled into the loan from the get-go. At a 100%LTV. These are benefits you won't get with a conventional mortgage from a traditional bank/lender.
To me, that's a pretty good deal. However, this structure won't work in areas of the country where the CAP rates are low. Like in Seattle or LA or Portland or NYC or any other area where you're looking at a single-digit CAP rate. Why? Because you can't support a 100% LTV loan on any overpriced property anywhere. The numbers just don't work!
By the way, this 100% LTV program is available all throughout the USA and for all types of properties. To download the specs on this program, go to this link: http://www.monicamain.com/100_ltv_bond
So please, stop calling my money broker and asking him lame questions. If your common-sense understanding of basic financing is that far off, go take a college course in Economics 101 firstbefore sounding like a fool on the phone.
Remember, you're talking to money people, lenders, and other serious investment folks. When you sound mentally challenged...let's just say those bridges are quickly going up in flames, never to be used again...especially if you keep calling over and over again (try 7 times in a row) with the same stupid ass question. Over and over again. I mean...really??!! Is common sense in that short of a supply these days or were a lot of people dropped on their heads by their moms as infants?
By the way, I should mention that using this powerful Bond Program is going to be covered in my upcoming 100% LTV Mentorship Group, starting on January 11th. I have a deal going on for my mentorships: http://www.monicamain.com/buy_1_get_1_free_mentorship
First off, thank you for your support in getting and reading (and putting up Amazon reviews) for my Kindle book: The 18-Month Millionaire. It went to #1 in the "small business" category last weekend because of you guys and gals. So, thanks a lot!!
Onto another subject...
Rumor has it that Lea may be coming back after the first of the year. Of course, it's coming from somewhat of an "unreliable" source so...who knows?
For those of you who don't know who Lea is, she'd been with me for 5 years before retiring this past September. She was the best customer service employee I've ever had and she has her own "fan base" among my students who -- I might add -- would rather talk to her on the phone than me. That's how good she is.
When I tell you that retirement is boring it means that retirement is boring. Most people last about a maximum of about 90 days before they're climbing the walls...and this is sometime after they've squeaked past the 60-day mark. (This is why "retirement" shouldnever be your end-all be-all goal.)
Lea used to tell me that she has all these "projects" to do like finishing quilts and other such nonsense. There are only so many home projects you can do before you start using that sewing needle to stab your own eyeballs out.
And I think that's where she might be right now.
It'll be good to have that bubbly personality of sunshine that she is back here at the office, even if it's only part time.
So, I called her to invite her to a GSS holiday staff dinner on Friday, December 19th. This morning she called me to confirm that she'll be there. (That's a good sign.) I asked her about retirement and she didn't seem so enthusiastic about sitting around at home anymore. I asked her if she has thought about coming back and...she indicated that she was "maybe" interested in coming back part time.
And "maybe" she could come back within the first couple of weeks of the New Year. "Maybe."
I know some of you are hard-core Lea fans. So...I have a little bitty idea. For those of you who want Lea to come back, if you could, send her a card (to me here at the office) and I'll take these cards to her during this holiday staff dinner shin-dig on the 19th.
Maybe that'll convince her to come back, especially if I hand her a pile (or wheelbarrow full) of freaking cards. And I'll bring a box of Kleenex too. She tends to get emotional sometimes.
Here's the address if you're interested in sending out a card or a letter saying something like "We Want You Back!":
Global Success Strategies
Attn: Lea
28170 Avenue Crocker
Suite 109
Valencia, CA 91355
Anyway, this year I decided to bring back Monica Bucks for the entire month of December. You'll have until Monday, January 5th to use them. If you're not sure what the hell that is, there are more details at http://www.monicamain.com/monica_bucks_2014. And yes, this applies to everything in my catalog.
Finally, I'll be running a kick-ass BOGO promo on my mentorship groups for most of this month. I have a slew of mentorship groups for the first half of 2015 and, I have to say, this is how some of my most successful students started out. These groups, as you know, are 100% online so there's nowhere to "show up" to.
I'm also bringing back the New Wealth Ninja Mentorship Group (at least once more) since this was the group that Gregg started off in. He's the one that is raking in about $85,000 a month on eBay with his Aggressive Income Business. And he started building this business during this particular group so it's definitely something worth looking into joining if that's the Aggressive Income direction you want to go in.
Here's the link on the deal: http://www.monicamain.com/buy_1_get_1_free_mentorship
Please note that this will be the mentorship group that will fill up the fastest and I'm limited to the number of students that I'll be taking in this group. This particular group starts on February 11th.
I also have my other highly successful 100% LTV Mentorship Group which starts on January 14th among many other groups that you can take that hand-holding period I offer to help you learn all this stuff for an incredible year coming up for you!I'm sooooooo excited for 2015. This is the year that a lot of you will see the economy "crack" wide open (in a good way). It's been happening slowly but surely since 2011 (which many of you haven't really seen the result of yet). Now you're going to see it go full force ahead and...if you have your sh** together with an Aggressive Income and/or Passive Income business going on then 2015 will your most prosperous year of this past 10-year "sucking wind" span we've had to deal with since the economy initially started tanking.
So click that seat belt of yours because if you line yourself up correctly, you're going to end up being a very rich guy or gal by this time next year. (Of course, if you never peel your ass off the couch then nothing but Judge Judy will be "happening" for you. If you're that lazy...good luck.)
Some more good stuff: I'm just starting up doing partnership deals with students again. I tapered off doing these types of deals with students since about 2010. I think my very last one-on-one partnership with a student was in 2011 if I recall correctly. Since then, all of my students have been partnering with my wealthy investor partners that I have sprinkled around the country. But many of you have been asking about direct partnerships with me and I'm starting to do those again...starting now. This month. I'll let you know more about the details of these deals soon so don't blow up my email inbox just yet.
I'm looking forward to 2015...and getting Lea back "maybe" after the first if the year.
Of course, you're going to help me with that, right? (Hint: Send a card or letter to the address listed above.)
