Just in case anyone is ever wondering why I never "go away" like I threaten to, it's because of stories like these. Check out this email that mysteriously ended up coming to me in my personal email inbox (which is an email I never give out to anyone):
"Monica,
I read your book about apartment investing back in 2010. Fast forward 4 years and today I own $18,000,000 in commercial real estate, over 630 units. Your book helped me tremendously and the confidence to make it happen! Thank you again Monica and see you at the top!!
Stephen"
I sent him an email back about how I was blown away with his email and told him congratulations on his success. I asked him if, by chance, he was willing to come out and speak at my event in September in Los Angeles. This was his reply:
"Monica,
Thank you for responding. I do have a humble beginning. Just 26 months ago I was living in a hotel in Dallas with less than $1,000 to my name. The one asset during that journey was my mindset. I read your course and had a millionaire mind. My first deal was a 50 unit apartment in Texas at $16,500 a door. I had it under contract for the right price but I had a huge problem. No money! I went to my step dad and he didn't have the 20% for the down payment either, which was $165,000. We got creative and went to the bank. My step dad had 1 rental property free and clear and we asked the bank if they would take his rental property as collateral, which they did. The second problem was we needed $50k to do the rehab. We didn't have it. The same bank agreed to give us a rehab loan. Fast forward 6 months later we refinanced the 50 unit and the appraisal came in at $1,500,000. We created $500,000 in equity on our first multi family deal in 6 months!
Our second deal is even better. Its a 108 unit in Dallas. We paid $2,850,000 for the property and it was 80% occupied. The seller agreed to hold 10% on a second note, so we got into the property with 10% down which was $285,000. Most of the $285,000 was equity we created on the first 50 unit. We filled the property up from 80% to 95% in 45 days. We just got a appraisal on the 108 unit last month and the property appraised for $4,000,000!! We created $1,150,000 in equity in less than 6 months on this deal! The great part was the previous owner had just rehabbed the property and just wanted out. She was 83 years old and her hard money loan was ballooning. I have several other apartment deals I could talk about. It really blows my mind on my balance sheet that I became a millionaire within 2 years. The best part is my step dad and I own 100% of our deals with no outside equity partners, except the 224 unit in Houston. I would love to share my story with a group of apartment entrepreneurs. I have not done a lot of public speaking but I am sure I can bring it. I have a lot of passion and multi family is the fastest way to accelerate massive wealth in the shortest period of time. I am sure I can come up with a PowerPoint and go over the properties we've purchased. We just closed a 85 unit apartment last week. The property was originally listed for $2,400,000 and we closed it for $1,625,000, again with no money down. We used equity out of our 108 unit and cross collateralized on the 85 unit. As you can tell I am really passionate about multi family. If you can let me know the day and time, along with how long the presentation should be. I will get working on it! :)
Stephen"
Stephen gave me his cell number so I called him today. What an incredible person! He's full of energy and inspiration like you wouldn't believe.
But more importantly, he made me think about some things.
Over the past few weeks I've been seriously thinking about the direction I want to go in. I re-watched a movie I saw some time ago called The Shift by Dr. Wayne Dyer. Good movie. You can watch it on YouTube.com if you feel so inclined.
I think we all get to a point in our lives where we feel "stuck" or know we want to venture into a different direction but don't know which direction to go into.
I've been at that stage for awhile now. This is what triggered my obsession with all of these different creative writing ventures and classes. Still, there's something missing.
This is what it looks like when we're traveling on the freeway of life. You're in the middle of nowhere with just your headlights illuminating the road a few feet at a time. You're on some path but without a specific destination in mind.
Then a sign post comes into light.
Mine came a few months back when I had a major New York publisher show interest in my Apartment Building Millionaire book and perhaps taking it mainstream.
"No thanks," I said. In my mind I convinced myself that nobody listens to me anyway. After all, we tend to focus on the negative (i.e. the glass half empty) rather than the success stories that I get every week.
So, I ignored the sign post while envisioning a completely different life for myself. It was probably more of a fantasy just to get away from what I'm really meant to do.
Then Hawaii for spring break came around this past April. Out of nowhere I had this really strong pull that I needed to help people on a larger scale. The thought of the New York publisher came to mind. I asked my daughter if I should write screenplays or if I should help people. "Help people," was her immediate response. And that was that.
Three weeks ago I started pounding out a book proposal. Then I stopped. "Is anyone really listening? Does anyone care about changing their life?"
Then Stephen wrote me his mind-blowing email. Out of nowhere. Just like that.
When I got on the phone with him he said, "We really need to do a book to tell everyone about this."
Another sign post illuminated. (The universe is about to hit me on my head with one of them if I don't listen this time.)
Back to Stephen, I think it's amazing that he agreed to speak at the 2-day seminar event in Los Angeles in September. As I explained to him on the phone, nobody cares that he's not a "polished professional speaker" because that's not why people go to an event like that. They come for the information. Not for a show. And his story is incredible.
The most awesome part about all of it is that he plans on sharing with you exactly what he did step by step to go from nothing to where he is now in only 4 years.
I put Stephen in my "star student" category for multifamily/apartment building success. Aran Dunlop is my star student for MHPs and Andrew Shaw is my star student for commercial-commercial buildings.
But $18 million and 630 units in 4 years?! Holy sh**! That's huge. Majorly huge!!
You know what? Anyone can do it if they focus and put their mind to it. And that's the entire point. Even if you know the mechanics, you can greatly benefit by having someone like Stephen rub off on you with motivation, inspiration, and a go-getter attitude.
I think it's your turn now, don't you agree?
For a short time, I have a deal on the seminar for those of you who want to have someone "magical" rub off on them.
In a couple of days, I'll tell you exactly what I'll be revealing at the event that will make this one the "ultimate" of ultimate events.
See you at the top!
Your mentor,
Monica Main
