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.
A little while ago I laid out a recent property deal I'm working on in a Midwestern ghetto area that was listed at $260,000, I put in an offer at $190,000 (but ended up getting it accepted at $195,000) that's worth $9,479/month in bottom-line cash flow.
And how I had 4 investor partners fighting over this deal because of the low cost of entry, their complete lack of involvement in the property itself (including management), and the incredibly high monthly cash flow such a property provides.
The problem is the class of the property. They are Class D properties, to be exact. No, this isn't even an "official" classification yet it seems that many listing agents have been using the term "Class D" so often in the past decade that it's now becoming more "official" of a class than not.
The other problem is figuring out how to taken an under-performing property in these areas (such as those as low as 1/3 occupied) and finding renters. It's not as easy as posting on Craigslist and thinking people will be beating a path to your door to live in a drug infested drive-by shooting riddled community, even if the rental rate is way below market.
Another building I'm putting an offer on was listed at $399,000 but since I'm going in with 100% cash with a private investor, I will able to get the seller down to $199,000 for a quick 2-week close (which you can easily do with an all-cash offer). And this property isn't even under-performing since it's 100% occupied.
And what kind of building is this one?
Again, I'm not going to tell you exactly where it is but I will state that it's in the Midwest, it's 22 units and is located in a C- area.
So, what type of cash flow is a POS property like that even worth? We're looking at a $4,167 monthly positive cash flow walking into the deal. And this is for a Class C- POS property in a less-than-savory neighborhood.
First of all, where do you find investors that are interested in these types of deals? Deals in ghetto neighborhoods that are actually worth nothing when you think about it aside from the cash flow that they could make.
You start creating your own network of investors through postings on the Loopnet Big Board, for example. But the easiest and, perhaps, the most effective way to create your own network of investors is by meeting them in person. I'll get to that in a minute.
The second obstacle is figuring out how to manage such a challenging property. This task isn't for everyone. But there is one secret to doing this that'll be something you've probably never thought of.
Most of these properties are lacking in tenants. Forget finding "quality" tenants because that just won't happen. Instead, you need to care about having tenants that will pay their rent most of the time while not harassing other tenants. That's the best you can hope for. Otherwise, if they're growing weed in the kitchen, so be it. Having a makeshift "massage parlor" in their living room, whatever. Not much you'll be able to do about this type of stuff in these types of areas. Reality is, you're not getting tenants with 800+ personal credit FICO scores with executive jobs at Microsoft who are 100% upstanding law-abiding citizens unless you're living in a mental fantasy land of some sort.
How do you "cure" tenancy problems in these areas?
There are management companies who specialize in these types of properties. Some of them do a kick-ass job managing a property that you wouldn't even want to fly over in an airplane let alone driving by at 90 miles per hour because of where it's located.
I put $0 out of pocket for each deal and they will be "financed" at a 100% LTV with all cash and no mortgage through private investors.
This is my newly discovered "niche" for getting private money and cashing out the deals with 100% cash. They are easy to "sell" to private investors even though they are in "shady" parts of town because guess what? They never have to deal with the property. I do. You do! Everyone elsebut them!
How was the $4,167 per month deal set up?
Here's what I arranged:
1) 50% goes to the investor partner; 50% goes to me.
2) These are 10-year deals which are highly unusual for investor partnerships (which are typically 3 to 5 years in length); the stipulation is that I will cash them out on just their investment plus a 10% straight-line interest on the original cash they put into the property.
3) The investor partner will make approximately $250,000 in cash flow over 10 years PLUS will get the $190,000 back with 10% interest. And this is assuming we won't be increasing rents but we will. It'll probably be closer to $350,000 that they'll receive over the next decade.
Why wouldn't they want to "cash out" by selling the property and taking out the gained equity?
Because of these reasons:
1) The property is in a crappy part of town and...truthfully (if the building is still standing), it won't ever sell to another investor. If it does, it'll be for a fraction more for what we paid for it...if we're lucky. Why do this when I can keep raking in the cash flow?
2) This allows the investor partner to be completely off the hook without having to wait for years (in most cases) if ever to sell that type of property. They'll get their cash flow, their money out of it, and walk away without breaking a sweat.
3) I get the property. It becomes mine 100% with or without a loan attached (depending on how well I managed my cash flow on this and other properties) and, conveniently, rents will nearly double in another 5 years after the property becomes mine. Providing I don't have a loan on the property, I'm looking at a monthly cash flow of at least $15,000 on this same POS property that's "worthless" on the real estate market as a property sale but is a freaking cash cow that would make a drug dealer drool. (Actually, at that time, I could probably sell the property to a drug dealer who probably lives in the same building!)
And this is how you get rich in real estate.
Let's review:
1) You'll get OPM on a POS property that no other investor wants by paying 100% cash for it.
2) You'll cure any vacancy problems, start bringing in a kick-ass cash flow, and keep your investor happy while he never touches, manages, or deals with the property.
3) You cash out and separate ways after 10 years. Everybody is happy and you get the property 100%. Even though it's a POS...who cares? By the time 10 years rolls around, I'll be making about $8,500 per month on this property. And this is just one of many!
And here's the clincher...
You do this times a minimum of 5 deals.
You can see what 5 x $8,500 a month can bring you. That's $42,500 a month in case you don't have a calculator.
What is that a year? That's $510,000 per year. From a pile of POS don't-want properties in the "shady/questionable" part of town that you can get for cheap that you ain't even paying for!
One way you can tap into these funds is by attending my upcoming event and meeting with a few investors who will be attending, looking for high cash flowing deals just like these. And no, they don't care where the property is located. They are simply looking for a deal that will make them money.
You can see my "Monica's-Gone-Crazy!" deal on my upcoming seminar event that ends on Monday. CLICK HERE for the deal!
If you have any questions, just call Lea. You know the drill. It's preferred that you CLICK HERE to check out what's going on first before eating up Lea's phone time.
I met a fellow writer who was talking about how she had gone through an intensive 2-year MFA program for creative writing, costing her over $30,000. Her true passion, of course, is screenwriting. She even sold a romantic comedy script to an "indie" (independent) production company.
I commended her on her success, even if she believed it was small, and started asking questions about whether she signed up for the Burbank Pitch Fest. This is a once-per-year deal every June where you can meet with real agents, studio execs, and production companies looking for scripts. She had said she never heard of it.
Hmmmm.....
This is the first part of the problem. People jump into something without knowing what the end-goal is or how to streamline an action plan to get there.
When she asked me how much the Pitch Fest charges, I told her that it's $750 to be able to attend all the classes, meet with people, and get the maximum effect of the multi-day event.
"Well, that's too expensive!" That was her response.
Double hmmmmm....
So, let me get this straight. You'll dump $30,000 into an MFA degree for screenwriting, you've written a couple of screenplays, but when it comes to investing in that "moment" where you can unlock the vault to agents, studio executives, and other important Hollywood types, you can't scrape together $750? Freaking really??!!
I started thinking about it and realized that there are a couple of things happening here.
I think some people psyche themselves out when that "moment" comes up that can change everything. Maybe they're afraid they'll fail or maybe they're afraid they'll actually succeed. Because, after all, do you really think she wouldn't find that $750 somewhere if she knew -- without a shred of doubt -- that she'd find the person that that would ultimately buy her script in a few weeks after the event for six figures? Or if a studio executive told her (over the phone) that he'd be there and that, since his schedule is so tight, he could only meet her atthat event that required payment to enter?
I don't know. Really, I don't know the answer.
I'd like to think that people have no confidence in themselves. They wouldn't attend an event because they honestly don't think they have the resources and skills (whether they have them now or will acquire them at the event), therefore thinking, "Why even bother paying the money and wasting my time?"
But here's the scary part.
I think that some people -- even when given that "moment" that can change everything and knowing that it's right before them -- would pass on it because it's too scary to change your life, even if it's for the better.
What about the responsibility and meeting new people and having deadlines and being immersed into a new world? A lot of people simply aren't ready for that.
They have a routine. Go to work, complain every moment of every day about the freeway traffic, the gray cubicle they sit in, the florescent lights that are sucking the juice out of their brains through their eyeballs and how co-worker Chatty Cathy won't ever shut the f*** up...then fight traffic home, make a TV dinner, watch a minimum of 5 hours of their favorite shows before passing out. Only 5 days a week...then you have the weekend. Beer, BBQs (in the summer), hanging out, recharging...then start over on Monday morning.
As crappy as a life that is, at least they know what to expect. Not many people like change or surprise, even if it probably will be better than what they have now.
My mom hated her job. She worked in the accounting department of a multi-billion-dollar construction building supply company in St. Louis, Missouri. She was one of those people who did exactly what I outlined above...yet she did absolutely nothing to change her life. Nothing. She thought about it, talked about it...but actually did nothing about it. (This is when I realized that you can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink it.)
In the wee hours of a Monday morning, she had a massive seizure. Once rushed to the hospital, this is when they found the brain tumor that would kill her less than 6 months later.
But think about it. Many heart attacks, strokes, and seizures actually do happen on a Monday morning before the start of a work day. I believe my mom's brain was getting back into I-gotta-go-to-crappy-work mode and started creating more stress than normal.
Isn't that telling you anything?? If you're brain can't process what I'm telling you then maybe your body can understand.
You see, logically it seems like a brilliant idea not to "buck the system" and create any significant change in your life because that means "instability." But your body would completely agree with me when I say that living a much more low-key stress-free lifestyle is the ticket to true wealth and happiness.
Not to mention the fact that you'll never have to worry about money again when you set yourself up correctly.
Many of my students don't understand what I'm doing yet I see the end-goal as clear as day. Less stress, doing the things I really want to do, investing more, working the 80/20 Principle, and working a lot less. Of course, this requires me cutting back on my business participation. Hence, the move that's coming up next week (and throughout July), cutting back on Global Success, and moving into different directions.
And I haven't been this excited about anything in a very long time!
The difference between me and many other "gurus" out there is that I walk the talk. Once I decided that I was going into a different direction, I began to set myself up. This is why I'm going from a 4,200 square foot office/warehouse down to 1,200 square feet. Yes, cutting 3,000 square feet off is a bitch but too much crap slows the energy down.
I'm also cutting all of my phone lines down to two, one for each business. And a fax line with Internet service. This is down from my current 10-line configuration that I have between both companies.
My hours have dropped from 55 hours a week to 40 hours a week and now to about 25 hours per week. Simplicity = happiness. Happiness = less stress.
And the Universe opens up for you.
So, what am I getting at here?
I have a 2-day seminar event coming up on September 13th and 14th in Los Angeles where I'm laying out exactly what I'm doing and how you can create a simplistic, easy-to-operate (with no/low overhead) business that cash flows anywhere from $20,000 to $50,000 and how you can dump those profits into Passive Income Assets for a solid streamlined 36-month (or less) retirement plan.
I have some kick-ass guest speakers including my star apartment building student who went from living in a hotel room to acquiring $18,000,000 in property in the snap of a finger...just by following my methods. And he'll show you exactly what he did to get what he's got.
And, he's also looking for partners.
One other little surprise, too!
I have an investor partner of mine who will be in attendance looking to invest with some of my students on his property deals. He won't be speaking but he'll be sitting in the audience with my students, getting to know you on breaks and via the Platinum VIP dinners. His goal is to find people he has a rapport with so that he can inject some of his vast wealth into your deals.
You can't network with these people if you don't show up. Period.
I have a deal on my seminar that is ending on Monday. Platinum VIP is almost full. I have 2 seats left and that's about it. By Monday those seats will be long gone, if you want to wait around that long.
I have a buy-one-get-one free deal on the Gold VIP at a super low price. This will also be ending on Monday by 5pm Pacific Time.
Here's the link for the deal: http://www.monicamain.com/new_wealth_warrior_seminar_event
Now would be the time that you could be honest with yourself (because I don't care either way). Do you want to do something to completely change your lifestyle...or not?
In case you haven't figured it out, this could be your "moment" that I was talking about. Like Eminem says in his song Lose Yourself..."Look, if you had one shot or one opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted. One moment. Would you capture it...or let it slip?"
See you at the top!
Your mentor,
Monica Main
www.MonicaMain.com
P.S. I was accepted into the UCLA Professional Program for Screenwriting today. (Yay for me!) My new life is getting more and more real each day as I stay committed to my New Life timeline chart. To see exactly how it looks (and how you can use it to "form" a New Life for yourself) and how it's all miraculously falling into place since I created the timeline, click here and scroll down to the "P.S." section to see it.
In the past couple of months I've had a surprising slew of testimonials from students who have finally got off their asses to start doing something.
And guess what?
All of them told me the same thing. They said that it wasn't nearly as hard as they thought it would be and that the "process" to get to where they wanted to go was more difficult to do in their head vs. how easy it turned out to be in real life.
I was talking to a student on the phone yesterday who started buying income property. I asked him how he did it. He said that he went through my course, followed exactly what I said, and started buying property. Each property was small as in "quad" size but he told me that he was able to negotiate taking over these properties for a couple grand each one. Not bad!
But I think what got me the most is how cool he seemed about the whole thing. I think all success stories -- even small ones -- are super awesome and deserve to be showcased. But this student (as many others seem to be) was overly humble about his successes.
The most critical part of the conversation was how he told me he did it. It was so nonchalant like he was talking to someone at a cocktail party and said, "Yeah, so I read this book about investing in apartment buildings, did all the stuff in the book, and now I have a few buildings under my belt since last year. And it wasn't even that hard either."
It started to get me thinking. Is success really as "hard" as most people perceive it to be?
Then I realized something quite critical in why people never make it and I've been able to flesh out exactly 3 reasons why people fail.
Reason #1: Most people who grew up with the "broke" (or even worse, "poor") mentality can't possibly wrap their heads around the fact that there is endless abundance out there and that they deserve a nice big piece of it. I was at Niagara Falls last week and the amount of water that pours over every second is mind boggling. The first thing you have to ask is,"Where does all the water come from?" And then, "How come it never stops?" It's calledendless abundance and it's available everywhere in every aspect of life from water to food to money to happiness. Until you can grasp it, understand it, and truly know it deep inside of you, success and prosperity will continue to elude you.
Reason #2: For the lucky low percentile of people who actually know what they want to do with their lives (or at least have some glimmering idea), it seems that the value of apprenticeship has been stripped out of our get-it-now society and has been replaced with the "osmosis" mentality. Apparently people are supposed to go to sleep and wake up with all of the education, experience, and knowledge they need to accomplish their goals. No need for reading or study or gaining experience as having your own "boots on the ground." After all, time is too valuable and better spent watching America's Got Talent, CSI, 24, and every other show you have recorded so...obviously there is no other time to devote to even simple reading to gain the knowledge you need just to get started on your success plight.
Reason #3: Lack of action. For those who do make the effort to gain the necessary knowledge -- whether they have spent devoted years to every book, course, video, seminar, etc. or they just finished reading a book on the subject -- many simply do nothing more than park the materials on a shelf to collect dust while they promise themselves that somedaythey'll get around to implementing what they've learned after [fill in the blank] happens. Unfortunately, "someday" means never. By the time a couple of years roll around, you'll have forgotten what you've learned anyway and/or it'll become outdated and you'll have to start over building your mental knowledge base. Not only is action required but it has to be consistent, well-planned, and "massive" (as Tony Robbins talks about). As I tell my students over and over again, to be successful in mail order, you only need 1 out of 100 people to buy your product. Reality is that 99 out of 100 people will throw away your marketing piece. But you only need that 1 person out of 100 to buy from you and you can become a multi-millionaire within just a handful of months. Yet that's a 99% failure rate, right? But to get to that 1 success out of 100 means you have to "try" 100 times. Trying only 1 or 2 times will get you exactly nowhere.
To achieve success -- whatever that may be in your mind -- is fairly easy to do. It's getting rid of the psychological demons that keep telling you how hard things are going to be that's really the most difficult thing to accomplish. That's why I say that my "dumber" students tend to be successful. Their demons don't exist as much as for those who are "smart" and have to over-analyze/complicate everything.
I have been barraged with emails from students who have been asking me about whether I'll be doing anymore mentorship groups. I may do another couple of groups before the end of the year but I do not have them scheduled at this time.
My students keep asking me about whether I'm truly going to disappear into the sunset or not. I'm still sitting on the fence. On one hand, I like training and helping people. On the other hand, it pains me to go through a bunch of students who get my stuff yet do nothing with it. Maybe if I stopped focusing on the non-doers and focused exclusively on the doers then I'd feel a much deeper sense in the gratification of helping people.
After all, don't we all have to focus on the glass being half full instead of half empty?
It never ceases to amaze me how some people sabotage themselves and yet continue to blame everyone else around them.
Listen, people. Life is pretty freaking simple. Let me illustrate just how simple it is.
You set your sites on a goal, you acquire the information and skill set you need to achieve the goal, then you go after the goal with as much aggression and passion as you can until you get what you want. You get that "warrior eagle eye" focus and you just go for it.
Yet most people try to create more complication, usually in the form of 2 things:
1) Excuses - the more you try to negate responsibility by making 101 excuses as to why you cannot achieve a dream you have, it simply means you're either (a) not passionate/motivated with the life changes you'd "like" to see in your life, and/or (b) the thing(s) you claim you want in your life aren't really your dreams but maybe someone else's.
2) Blame - this is the part when you blame everyone else including, but not limited to, the president, the government, your parents, your siblings, taxes, lack of education because of...whatever reason, the fact that you're a certain race/sex/sexual orientation/from a certain country/too old/too young/whatever, or that the gods haven't parted the seas for you, sent a ship in to "rescue" you, or whatever other blame game you're playing with forces outside of yourself.
I look at people like my brother. He's a full-fledged alcoholic who bleeds the welfare system dry for every hand-out he can get. To me it takes more work to research programs and find ways to bend a government to get me stuff without having to work for it than to do the obvious: to actually work for it.
Then you have my former employee Jeanine. Same deal. Except that her set of excuses about why she can't get anywhere is completely different. Same result, though. Blame others for why she isn't making it and make excuses as to why she doesn't have time, money, resources, etc. to achieve what she wants.
Even worse. After I terminated her last week, she's finding it necessary to be vindictive in any way she can because...who the f*** knows why! It's like when someone breaks up with you and decides to move on. What purpose does it serve to stalk that person, upload nasty comments or dirty photos/videos of that person, or otherwise try to "ruin" them in some way? Do they hope to get that person back by doing all of this? Will it get them any further in life by ruining the life of someone else?
It just shows people's true colors.
But the worst part: they don't realize the karma they are reaping upon themselves by spewing such negative bullsh** into the world about other people. Then they have the audacity to wonder why they never get a break or can never get ahead. It's because they think like losers. Therefore, they get what losers get which is exactly nothing!
I was fortunate enough a long time ago to understand the boomerang effect of karma and how it works. And because it seems that things are "speeding up" in the universe, karma comes back much faster...almost instantaneously. It used to take a lifetime. Now it can be a matter of minutes.
What I keep telling people is that -- in addition to figuring out what you want to do and really going for it -- you have to treat others in the same way as what you expect to sow yourself. So, for example, if you don't want anyone taking a baseball bat and busting out your car windows with it...I strongly suggest you don't do the same thing to someone else.
What seems to floor me time and time again is that the very people who are not conducting their lives in the way they should (including maliciously hurting others, etc.) simply don't see what they're doing. It's like they're completely blind to it! It's amazing.
Could you be doing things that are sabotaging you?
What could I mean?
Maybe you're mean to people. Maybe you're not conducting yourself in a way that is putting out positive energy that you'll be getting back; instead maybe you're putting out negative things and getting negativity back.
Or maybe you're guilty of items #1 or #2...or both. Are you making excuses for yourself? Are you blaming others for what's going on in your life and/or why you're not successful?
You have all the benefits, resources, and opportunity to get anything you want in this lifetime right before you.
I was watching the news last night and there was a story on border patrol and immigrants trying to get into the United States. They're discovering that there are an alarming amount of kids trying to cross our American borders and they're without their parents or other adults! In certain areas of the world, including those south of our border, there is such political turmoil and strife that many people are trying to escape these conditions by coming here to our land of opportunity.
And that's just south of our border.
What about what's going on in the Middle East? There was yet another story about how about 500,000 people have been displaced from their homes and are fleeing to another bordering country in order to save their own lives. They showed video of kids sleeping in cars and outside on the ground; I couldn't help but to empathize because I have a young daughter. What would it be like to be forced from my home and to have to flee to another unknown country with little resources and with no idea what our future would hold? Where would we go? How would we survive? What would happen to the home we just left?
Listen, folks. We have it easy. Really easy. Ridiculously and amazingly easy! (Did I get my point across?)
And we're all lucky like you wouldn't believe.
Yet I see people every day who complain about how "bad" things are. Really? Are things really that bad for you? Why? Because they put 2% milk instead of soy milk in yourStarbucks coffee this morning? Because your boss is a jerk off due to the fact that you didn't finish a project that was due 2 weeks ago and he yelled at you? Because your iPhone 5 fell on the floor and broke today? Because some politician said something that personally "offended" you? Because you got a traffic ticket for blowing a red light?
Why do you believe your life is sooooo hard??
I wake up every morning and the first thing I do is tie back my curtains in my bedroom. I look out the window and I see an extraordinary resort-like backyard. I see the mountains in a pinkish-orange hue. Sometimes I see a light fog and it looks a little...mysterious. Sometimes I see a rabbit eating my plants. Sometimes there's a large bird, crow, or hawk standing on my back fence. But in every instance, I'm so incredibly grateful that I can feel this sense of excitement in my stomach. I simply cannot believe how awesome my life is.
No, I'm not where I'd ultimately like to be. But who cares? Setting the bar even higher gives you something else to strive for. And that's exciting. If you had everything dropped in your lap the moment you snapped your fingers, life would certainly suck. It would be boring and unfulfilled if you didn't have to work for anything or challenge yourself to get a goal.
If you feel like you hate your life and want something else, here's what you have to do:
1) Immediately stop complaining...about everything. Even if you think you have something legitimate to complain about, shut your trap. Please. You're hurting yourself by sending out negativity which will always come back like a boomerang to harm you. Considering how other people have it in the world, especially in war-ridden countries, you don't have a single f****** thing to complain about. And if you think you do, imagine being a 10-year-old kid who is forced to come up to America from Guatemala to avoid getting killed or dying of starvation...and you're alone because both of your parents are dead. And when you get to America, you're detained in unbearable overcrowded conditions with no rights and, in some cases, being beaten by border patrol. Imagine being that kid and then tell me that there's something wrong with yourlife right now! (Yeah, that's what I thought.)
2) Focus on yourself. Stop zeroing in on what other people are doing, saying, thinking, or wanting. This includes not clicking on those Yahoo! articles about Kim Kardashian and Kanye West or getting upset because some politician said that he hates gay people. If someone pisses you off, start letting things roll off your back...like really quick. If your significant other dumps you, don't spend an ounce of time being angry or vindictive. Move on. Focus on you and what you want...and figure out how to get there. Everyone else around you should be views as bees swarming around a beehive. They're there but you can tune them out and stay focused on yourself and what you want.
3) Start realizing how many incredible resources you already have. You may not have money or credit or talent or the things you believe you need to get yourself going but you are a lot farther aheadin the game than you think. Just by being in a country where you have endlessamounts of opportunity, presumably being able to speak English well, being educated to some degree to be able to perform basic intellectual functions, and being able to pick up a phone and communicate something with someone (or sending an email) puts you way ahead of someone who is -- somewhere in the world -- dreaming of a way just to be able to get to our country to start a life...any life! Look at what you have and where you are right now! You have so much opportunity and potential that it's mind-boggling!
4) Really narrow down what you want for yourself. This may seem like the hard part and, in actuality, it is. What I've found is that if you have an inkling of an idea of what you want to do (but you're not 100% sure), start following that path. Other things will open up for you once you start moving in some direction toward what you believe you want for yourself. The universe loves movement. Move in some positive direction and you will be directed to where you need to go. Move in no direction and you'll be sitting on your ass exactly where you are now except 10 years will have gone by. And you'll still be nowhere. (Scary thought, huh?)
5) Start getting the skills needed to get your goal. Centuries ago it was an accepted practice that someone would be an apprentice for many years and even decades to learn a trade or skill. These days people think they can watch a YouTube video for 10 minutes and somehow instantly have the precise skill set needed to accomplish some pretty lofty and grandiose goals. Even worse, many people are even too lazy to watch the 10-minute YouTube video because they somehow think that the information they want should somehow seep into their brains while they are sleeping in a sort of osmosis-type of fashion. Please. You're never going to get anywhere by being lazy and certainly other people aren't going to be doing the dirty work for you so that you can get ahead. (Instead they'll be doing it for themselves so they can get ahead instead.) This is why I tell people to get involved in things they are passionate about so then the learning and doing parts of getting what you want are fun and not "work."
6) Start swinging the bat using your new found skills. Lots of action is required to become successful. Some (if not most) of your actions won't amount to much. Any sales person can tell you that there are many more rejections than successes yet the most successful of those in sales understand that it's all about the numbers. The more rejections you get, the more successes you get. Anyone in direct mail knows that 99 out of 100 people will throw away your marketing mailing piece. Yet you can get filthy rich from that 1 out of 100 that buy your product. The majority of what you do will fail and/or get rejected. As long as you understand the law of numbers, you'll do extremely well in all of your endeavors if you just swing that bat as many times as you can. You'll undoubtedly hit your home runs, guaranteed. Even if you get 1 home run out of 100 swings, that's okay. But if you only swing the bat once...you can guess (by the law of numbers) how well that'll turn out for you. It won't. Period.
7) Have a level of persistence and commitment. One thing I could never understand about my dad was how flighty he always was. He'd start some type of business or endeavor and then he'd move onto the next thing within just a couple of weeks before he had a chance to get anything off the ground. Yes, you can get ahead by being a "quitter." After all, if you've been at something for 10 years and it's not panning out at all, maybe it's time to stop beating your head against the wall and start focusing on something else. But...after a couple of weeks? Days even? When should you quit and try something else? How long do you "stick with it" to see if something works out? That's subjective by person and by project, of course. You don't set out to build a ship then drop the project after 2 months because it's not finished. But if it's taking you 2 months to write a simple one-paragraph synopsis of the book you want to write then...maybe you're just not cut out for writing or you need a better skill set. Again, this all goes back to doing something you're passionate about so that you can push through the times of doubt and depression you will come up against when traveling on your goal path.
So, what do you do now? How does it all begin?
You have to figure out where you see yourself in a few years from now. What type of how do you want to be living in and where? What is your work lifestyle like? What's your home life like? How much do you make a year? How many vacations a year do you take? You have to think about the whole thing, even details of it.
This will help point you in the right direction.
Once you make some decisions, start getting your skill set in place. This is vital to being able to start swinging your bat, if you will.
So, how do you start building your skill set?
Funny you should ask!
I have a 2-day Total Wealth Building Boot Camp Seminar in Los Angeles on September 13th and 14th that will fully cover both Aggressive and Passive Income Strategies. In fact, this event will be so intense that I have a total of 4 speakers (including myself) and the speaking days will go about 2 hours longer each day than with prior events.
And for my 40th Birthday Weekend Blow Out (that ends on Wednesday), I'm offering a ridiculously low price to attend this event.
I've never offered this incredible of a deal before to attend any of my prior events. And once 5:01pm on Wednesday hits, you'll lose out on this one for good.
Right now I'm on my way to Michigan. Many of you know that I've been going back and forth between California to Michigan (and back again) for the past 4 years.
There are a couple of reasons I'm going.
1) To set up the new warehouse for my health supplement company.
2) To look at some incredible cash flowing property deals.
Now, many of you who aren't familiar with the greater Detroit area don't know what's really going on there. And since you probably don't know what's going on, I'm about to "clue" you in.
Detroit is getting worse. Much worse. If you thought it was a 3rd-world-country war zone, that's true...plus a lot worse than that! When a city goes bankrupt, it affects many things including local businesses, job opportunities, and the need to take on "extracurricular" activities (i.e. illegal activities) to support your family. When people are hungry, they become desperate.
People are getting shot and killed for a few bucks in their wallet. People fear going to a gas station since many end up getting car jacked while filling up their tanks.
But I think the most horrifying truth about all these tragedies that happen multiple times a day in Detroit is that, on top of it getting progressively worse, there doesn't seem to be an end in sight.
I did some research on exactly when the most beautiful formerly-higher-end Detroit neighborhoods with these gorgeous English tudors went from "normal" neighborhoods to downtrodden hell-holes. But I didn't get the answers I was looking for. In fact, when I did pinpoint the "when," I was even more bamboozled as to the "why" part of the equation.
You'd think, just by understanding when the Big 3 auto manufacturers started declining in the 1960s, that these neighborhoods would have started unraveling about then...or maybe a decade later like in the 1970s perhaps. Right?
Wrong.
Strangely, a lot of these gorgeous neighborhoods with stellar and unmatched architectural beauty started falling apart to "the element" in the mid-1990s.
I know. It's pretty freaking startling, isn't it?
Why the 1990s?
No clue. And that's what scares me the most.
It reminds me of a school of fish. You don't know who the leader is. But one of them is the leader. And it's uncanny how fast they change course in near-unison within a fraction of a second without a "why" or "when" to use as a barometer.
That's much how Detroit is except that you can bank on one thing being for certain: when it changes, it just gets worse. Never better. You just don't know which neighborhoods will suddenly go to hell in a hand-basket or when.
Everyone in Detroit is running scared right now. It's like someone sucked all the oxygen out of the air while normal law-abiding citizens either prepare for war in the streets or are packing up their caravans and leaving everything behind for good.
So, why do I bother with an area that's a war zone?
First of all, you can still buy smart. There are "somewhat bad" areas, "just bad" areas, and "really bad" areas. Yes, it's like taking "Class D" properties and giving them grades. So, you have Class D+, Class D, and Class D-.
But what about Class C...or even Class B?
See, that's the part I'm getting at here. You don't have to take a war-zone area like Detroit and choose while level of shitty you will subject yourself to.
Instead, you bank on the fear with apartment building owners running around like chickens with their heads cut off, thinking the world is ending, and wanting to get out before "all hell breaks loose."
Years ago I did extremely well doing letter campaigns to lists of apartment building owners in specific parts of the country that I'm targeting. Then the bubble ballooned and the letter campaigns stopped working. The bubble popped (or rather exploded) and rocked the banking world to the point where we were literally hours away from a complete banking collapse in 2008 (which a lot of Americans don't even know how close we were). People who took cash out of their property by gutting their equity instantly found themselves upside down on their property. Doing creative deals with apartment owners became a thing of the past. Letter campaigns stopped working. Property owners started losing their properties to the bank. We all know the story.
Recently, there's been a revitalization in letter campaigns as of about 2 years ago.
Even more recent (since only a few months ago), I've been working with an incredibly unique letter campaign targeting apartment building owners in the greater Detroit area (including Macomb County).
But...this campaign is unique. How? Because I'm targeting the first and most powerful sales motivator: fear! I'm playing on the fears of "the sky is falling down" with these apartment building owners.
And it's working.
No, it's not like your traditional letter campaign where you're sending a letter to offer more to your apartment building owner or even to offer him a fair market-value price. In fact, you're not even mentioning anything about price or an offer at all. You're simply playing on the fear that their property is becoming more and more worthless as the minutes tick on because their area is becoming infested with the worst type of criminal element Detroit has ever seen in its history.
The good news? You can pick and choose your deals. You can offer them much less for their property than what's "fair" or even "market value." And, best of all, you don't have to choose between shitty Class D property #1 or shitty Class D property #2. Instead, you focus on the suburban cities where the element hasn't reached...yet.
And this strategy can work anywhere there is any type of criminal problem or element. This includes Memphis, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Sacramento, St. Louis, Chicago...and on and on.
So...what does this "top secret" letter say since it's not like the rest of the letters that you'd use in a more "traditional" letter campaign?
Guess you'll just have to come to Los Angeles on September 13th and 14th to find out. I'll be revealing this incredible secret during my 2-day Total Wealth Building Boot Camp Seminar. I'm doing a kick-ass 40th Birthday Weekend Blow Out deal that will literally blow your mind.
Plus you'll be extremely excited to know more about the impressive guest speakers I'll be having.
Plus...something I didn't mention on my website but I have at least 2 of my investor partners who will be attending as audience attendees who will be talking with my students to find solid equity partnership deals to fund. They'll be making the rounds, having drinks with students, and seeking out places they can put their money!
Here's the link to register and get the deal: http://www.monicamain.com/birthday_blow_out
Questions? Call my office after 9am Pacific Time at (661) 295-5050.
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.
A couple of days ago, I told you about 3 of my main Aggressive Income Strategies and how they're working so well that I'm taking advantage of this period of "borrowed time" to funnel Aggressive into Passive Income.
Then I promised to tell you about the top 4 best Passive Income property classes. So, here they are:
1) Single family residences (SFRs): As long as you don't mortgage these babies (and pay 100% cash), this is my preferred investment right now. I get the highest amount of rent per month, have the greatest amount of expense pass-through (on a residential property), and have the lowest amount of expenses (which means higher bottom-line cash flow) on these types of properties. Why no mortgage? Because it's too risky if your only tenant stops paying rent (through loss of job, maliciousness, death, etc.). You'll then personally have to carry the mortgage until an eviction occurs. And if it happens to more than a couple of your houses (because of a dip in the economy), you'll end up losing them.
2) "Quads": These are 4-plexes: You need great credit because you'll get a residential loan on these as an "investor." They require 25% cash down but the qualification requirements (aside from a 680+ mid-FICO and the cash) are nil. They offer a very nice cash flow yet have the highest bottom-line cash flow by percentage out of every other type of multifamily because the expenses are so low. (Not as low as an SFR but pretty damn close!)
3) Small apartment houses (24 units or less): I have really been focused on these for the past couple of years. I haven't even considered anything larger for the last solid 2 years. Why? The economy has changing. All serious "big boy" investors were snatching up all of the larger apartment buildings like they were going out of style since about late 2011. I found myself thoroughly sick of dealing with corporations with snotty real estate agents to boot while competing with malicious game-playing investors. Smaller apartment buildings are mom-and-pop owned and operated while most big investors avoid them altogether because they're not considered "big" money. So, no competition for me and I can negotiate with real people. Plus, lenders don't run me through the loop on requirements and I get much better bottom-line cash flow than I would on larger apartment buildings.
4) MHPs (mobile home parks): Specifically "resident-owned" properties, or at least that's how they are converted upon immediate possession...this means that the residents own their mobile homes (or trailers) and I just get "pad/lot" rent. I don't maintain any of the units, just the grounds. This is the ideal and most profitable situation. MHPs typically have the lowest expense ratio which are equivalent to the low expenses on SFRs.
What do I mean about properties with a "low" or "lowest expense ratio"?
You have something called a GOI or a "gross operating income." This is calculated annually (as with everything having to do with investment properties). It means the "gross receipts" or "gross rents" received in the period of a year.
Your "expense ratio" is the percentage or "chunk" of the GOI that's taken to cover property expenses including, but not limited to, insurance, management, utilities, taxes, etc.
Here's something that surprises most of my students. The larger the apartment building, the higher your expense ratio percentage. For example, a 100-unit apartment building in the Midwest will probably have an expense ratio of about 68%. This means that a whopping 68% of your GOI goes to expenses. And no, this does not include the mortgage payment either!
So, if your building has a GOI (or gross rental receipts) of $100,000 per year, a whopping $68,000 per year is going out for expenses and not even covering a single cent of the mortgage payment. This means that, more than likely, you're not making a damn dime on these types of properties.
However, when you have smaller multifamily properties, the expense ratio (or percentage) is much lower. You have fewer expenses. You have less money going out for property maintenance (including landscaping and snow blowing), fewer dollars for management costs, few (or no) common-area utilities to pay for, and lower property taxes.
If you had a "quad" (4-plex) in the same area of the Midwest, your expense ratio would be shoved down to about 32%. That's less than half of what it costs to operate a much larger property!
Doesn't it make more sense to, say, buy 25 "quads" (totaling 100 units), all with a consistent expense ratio of 32% across all 25 buildings vs. buying 1 single 100-unit building with an expense ratio of more than double? It certainly makes sense to me. Yes, it's more work but it's much more profitable.
Yet, strangely, all of my most fresh-out-of-the-box newbie real estate investing students want to run right out and get that 800-unit building. (I had a property that was so large that it required a freaking unbelievable 88% in expense ratio to keep the property functioning. Once I took the property over, I cured the vacancy problem then sold it. It didn't seem worth it to me to make chump change on the cash flow on such a large building when I could do 100% better on a handful of smaller properties. It just didn't make any sense to me!) These types of assets are a waste of time even if a newbie investor can somehow miraculously raise the millions of dollars needed for the down payment, have the credit requirements in place, show the lender a management resume and prove that they have a vast portfolio of other properties verifying that (s)he is an experienced enough investor. (Yes, all this stuff is required to purchase multi-million-dollar properties.)
This is all stuff you need to know if you want to cash in with real estate in the New Economy.
How are you going to learn all of this stuff overnight?
I'm not aiming at teaching you everything overnight. My job is to get you started. Get you motivated and educated enough to get off your ass and get started in the business of investing.
This is where my September LA event comes in. Not only am I going to show you how to get the money for your real estate but where to invest that money for maximum leverage and bottom-line cash flow.
What I'm going to be describing to you in 2 power-packed days in Los Angeles is exactly what I'm doing on this Aggressive Income side (Day 1) and where I'm funneling the cash (Day 2) into Passive Income Assets.
This is going to be a more intense seminar event than my prior events because the days will be longer. I'm aiming on presenting 3 days worth of material in only 2 days.
Here's the link: http://www.monicamain.com/new_wealth_warrior_seminar_event
If you want to get started with the Aggressive Income side right now, I have my last ever New Wealth Ninja Mentorship Group starting on Wednesday. This will kick-start the Aggressive side into action so, by the time you attend the event in September, you'll already have some cash for your Passive Income Assets!
