About 3 weeks ago I found myself -- yet again -- ripping my hair out over another listing agent who wouldn't call me back. And this is on a property that I was fully prepared to submit a kick-ass offer on.
I go through this phase where I think I'm being ignored because I'm a minority (a woman...in case you didn't know) and that, playing the "man's game" of commercial real estate, very often I come up with resistance. (Once I buy my "male voice disguising device" from the Johnson Smith Company, I may finally have the advantage in this business that I've been looking for. Hey, while I'm at it, maybe I can try some of my penis growth pills in the back of my warehouse...)
I had to send my bulldog in.
Who's my bulldog?
Why, Ron Espinoza, of course.
Ron Espinoza has been my commercial finance guy for...forever it seems. Since 2009 to be exact. We were married for a short time, now divorced due to the impossible distance factor between Michigan and California where we each live, but none of this has interfered with our business relationship (as hard as that may be to believe).
If any of you have met him or talked to him on the phone, he's a short little guy but he's got a very intimidating voice. He actually sounds like Anthony Robbins a bit with that overpowering raspy voice.
I had Ronnie call 3 of these listing agent fools on 3 different deals that I not only knew I wanted to buy but I already had prepared offers on all 3 of them.
So, here's how it went:
Listing Agent #1: Completely ignored Ronnie just as he had completely wrote me off by simply not returning anyone's phone call. I'm thinking (or rather hoping) that this idiot is dead in a ditch which is why he didn't have the respect to call either one of us back. (Here it is -- 3 weeks later -- and still no phone call back to either one of us!)
Listing Agent #2: Answered the phone and started arguing with Ronnie about how he needed to come in with POF (proof of funds) and a "pre-approval" for the property before he'd release any details about the numbers on the property. Ron has been a commercial broker for over 10 years and can tell anyone the reality of how commercial lending works and this is how it works: you cannot get a pre-approval on any commercial property without knowing what the numbers are. This isn't residential lending. A bank isn't giving you a pre-approval to buy any house because it's based on what you can afford. A bank for commercial mortgages has to look at (and approve) each individual property based on its cash flow because it's essentially lending on the "business" of the property generating a cash flow. No numbers = no pre-approval. Period. Needless to say, Ronnie had to "school" this fool and the conversation didn't end well.
Listing Agent #3: Called Ronnie back after he left a message and said he (1) wouldn't reveal any numbers about the property unless (2) we were putting in an all-cash offer for their "firm" asking price. Ron's argument (as well as mine) was, "What if the numbers don't support our asking price? Doesn't that mean I can get a discount of 25% or more so that I can make my numbers work AFTER you give me the income/expense sheet?" And then the comment, "You do know that the seller gets the same amount of money at closing regardless of whether it's an all-cash offer or if it's financed, right?" Moron. He told him we'd come back in 6 months from now after he gets no offers when he's ready to sing a different tune. And usually they are after this amount of time passes.
Here's a nifty set of tips for you:
1) Get yourself a Premium Loopnet.com subscription. I know, I know...you're whining that it's expensive. But, if you've already had this "conversation" with yourself about how you want to become a successful real estate investor no matter what then the upgrade on your Loopnet.com account will be well worth it.
2) Keep tabs of the properties that you want in your "Watch List" in Loopnet. Keep them there AFTER they go "off market" (because this means the listing expired). Then hit up the seller/owner after they failed in selling their property. There is a link called "Property Record Data" located right under the Bing map in the listing profile. Click on that link and you'll have access to the owner's information under the "Owner & Mortgage" tab. (If you don't have a Premium subscription, you can't access this). This is where you can contact him or her for the "offer you can't refuse" and you'll probably make out with a big discount and/or owner financing (or both) when you send out your letter.
3) Get yourself a buyer's agent. It doesn't pay to try to contact listing agents anymore because they all suck, they're rude and disrespectful, and they're all so full of themselves that I believe scum-sucking ambulance chaser lawyers are 10 cuts above these losers.
How do you get a buyer's agent?
This is sort of the hard part because you kind of have to weed through a lot of these jerk-off listing agents to find someone you have a rapport with.
And this brings me back to my story of what happened to me recently...
I have a buyer's agent. In fact, I've had one in the Michigan area for years. His name is Chris and he's with a fairly large commercial firm.
So...why did I waste my time trying to contact these listing agents directly?
For one, these properties I'm going after right now didn't seem worthy enough for my guy to work with (even though he'll negotiate on anything for me) and (the real reason), back in the day you used to be able to gain traction with a listing agent because he or she knew they'd be getting the full commission if you didn't bring in a buyer's agent.
In case you don't know what I'm talking about, if you deal with the guy (or gal) who listed the property, they don't have to share their real estate commission with another agent if you buy directly through him (or her).
But...since all these listing agents want to be assholes and jerk-offs these days (even more so than years ago), maybe their punishment needs to be that they get to split their commission with somebody else until they're able to get off their high horse.
That somebody else is your buyer's agent. Look at this person as being a heaven-sent personal assistant who gets to deal with the trials and tribulations of communicating with the jerkiest of jerk listing agents multiplied by however many deals you want to be doing at once.
And if I taught you anything so far, you should be jamming your pipeline full of at least 10 deals at a time since this business is a numbers game.
Imagine not having to deal with 10 different loser listing agents for 10 different deals you're working on. (And if you don't believe me on how tough this is, try doing it. If you live until the end of the week without jumping off a bridge to your voluntary demise, my hat's off to you!)
So, back to my guy, Chris. He's my listing agent.
And he can be yours too.
You see, for those of you coming to Detroit, you'll get to meet him. In fact, this is the first time I'm allowing my students to meet my buyer's agent. For any of you interested in investing anywhere in Michigan (and you will want to do this once you see what I present in Detroit), Chris is fully willing and prepared to be your personal buyer's agent too.
Don't you love it?! I'm giving you a buyer's agent so you don't have to get one yourself. (And they are difficult to find!)
Chris kicks ass, by the way. He's super nice and he's got a very powerful firm behind him. And when Chris was reaming my ass last week for bothering with contacting these listing agents myself, he reminded me that when he leaves messages, they ALWAYS get returned. Plus, Chris never has to battle the demands of providing POF, preapprovals, and all the other bogus crap that these listing agents demand in an effort to weed out the tire-kickers (and everyone else out there; I'm shocked that any of these listing agents actually make any money these days).
Another thing about Chris: his firm is also an in-house lender and he'll be having one of his lending guys come down to talk to my students about the latest programs including getting a 3.44% fixed rate on a commercial loan.
I have so many powerful people coming down to meet my students at my 2-day event in Detroit on November 14th and 15th that you'd have to be crazy (or have a damn good excuse) as to not make this seminar!
This week is your last chance to get the early-bird pricing before it goes way up. Way waaaayyyy up!
P.S. I have so many kick-ass people coming to this event including lenders, brokers, my personal buyer's agent, investors, and even someone who can completely rehab and manage your properties for you! Don't miss this!
I just sent off a lengthy email to an acquaintance of mine because, well...I'm a sweetheart. What can I say?! (You knew that already, though, right?)
First of all, what was this email about and why should you care?
Well, this guy is actually Ronnie's cousin who retired out from the Detroit P.D. a little more than a year ago and, after being a cop all of his life, he has exactly zero knowledge of how to start a business and he asked for my help.
So, I painstakingly put together an email detailing exactly how to start a corporation structure in the state of Michigan.
Then, after clicking the "send" button, I'm like...why not share this kick-ass information with my students who probably don't know how to set up their own corporate structure? Especially since there are a couple of things you need to know about which structure to go with and why.
So, let me break it down to you, folks. By the time you're done with this email, you'll be your own little corporate-structure-building expert.
First off, let me lay out a few different entities and why/how you select what you'll use:
1) C Corporation: most people don't know it but when they form a for-profitcorporation(which is what you'll always form unless you are going for "non-profit" which is way out of my wheelhouse of expertise) it always starts out, from birth, as a "C" corporation. Always. No exceptions. You have to actually change the designation of your corporation to an "S" through the IRS (after the "birth" of your entity). I'll show you how to do that shortly. But...what's the deal with a "C" corporation and why not just keep it that way? With a "C" corporation, you get what's called "double taxed." So, if your C corporation made a profit (after all write-offs) of, say, $1,000,000 for your designated tax year, you'll have to pay $113,900 plusan additional 34% on the profits over $335,000. And that just plain sucks. Then, you'll get what's "left over" after the IRS is done raping and pillaging you financially and then you have to pay personal taxes on what's left over. (Now do you understand why it's called "double" taxation?) Why do this at all when you can designate your corporation to an "S" and then that $1,000,000 profit (or whatever your profits are) "flow down" to you personally. Then you pay taxes on those profits at whatever your personal tax bracket is. An S corporation doesn't pay taxes; you personally pay taxes on all the profits. The only benefit of a C corporation is that you can choose the month your fiscal year ends. If you want it to end on June 30th, it ends on June 30th. You cannot do this with an S corporation or LLC (which both end on December 31st of each year).
2) S Corporation: unless you have a partner (which I don't recommend because I have personal "issues" with the idea of partners), you need to always set up an S corporation (unless it's for a piece of real estate). If you don't already have an S corporation, get one. This will act as your "umbrella" for everything else you do, can be one of your "partners" in your real estate LLCs (and you are the other "partner"), and this is used as a tool to build business credit. As explained above, you personally get taxed on the "flow down" of all the profits from your corporation through a form called a K-1 which is generated when you do your taxes. You may or may not know this but all tax filings for S corporations and LLCs are due one month before personal taxes are due; they are due March 15th. And as already explained, your tax year for an S corporation (and LLC) ends on December 31st.
3) LLC: this is the structure that's recommended for any partnership (where you actually have 2 people such as a husband-wife team, etc.) and for real estate. The IRS stopped recognizing a "single-member" LLC about 4 or 5 years ago so even though a specific state may let you form a single-member LLC, the IRS simply will not recognize "single member" status anymore. And I don't know about you but I like following the federal rules over the state rules just because the feds trump the state in most (or all) cases. I also don't know about you but I hate getting letters from the IRS that says I'm doing something wrong and need to "correct" the situation. (Been there, done that with the "single-member" thing and the IRS.)
Now, something personal: because I don't really believe in "partnerships" (because I've had 3 failed marriages), I don't believe in going in on anything with someone else UNLESSthere's a damn good reason for it. I've gotten burned on too many "partnerships" (marital and otherwise) to have a verystrongview on this. So, if you want to get involved in a partnership simply because you have a spouse, don't do it. Please. Otherwise this just complicates things.
Reasons to actually do a partnership: very simple, you need something of value from the partner in the deal whether it be cash, credit, knowledge, management, or something. This "something" better be of high value.
It pains me when couples want to be "cute" and go in on a deal together when one doesn't need the other to make the deal work (i.e. cash, credit, knowledge, management or something). Not only do you cut in half your power (especially if both have good credit), but if there are problems in the relationship later, it's a bitch trying to separate all this stuff out and you'll end up losing a lot of money. Guaranteed.
What did I mean about cutting your power in half?
Well, if a husband has a 730 FICO and the wife has a 790 FICO, you BOTH have to go on the loan if you are part of an LLC or partnership. If you are getting recourse loans (or properties requiring loans under a million in loan size), you will "hit a wall" at the same time at about 7 properties. If you would have done it the "smart" way, each of you would have gotten 7 properties ALONE and thus, a total of 14 properties between both of you before "hitting the wall."
And by getting 14 cash flowing properties, depending on what you bought and where, you'd be looking at $15,000 to $30,000 a month in cash flow (instead of HALF that because you both "hit the wall" together by being all "cute" when going on all the loans together).
If your credit sucks, or your spouse's credit sucks, start freaking fixing it already. (More on how to make that work in a couple of weeks if you haven't figured that out yet.) It's not that hard. Really, it's not!
Okay, back to our corporations...
You will need one to start which will be your umbrella corporation. This is the one that you'll be doing 2 very critical things with:
1) Building business credit
2) Using as your "partner" on your real estate property LLCs
This umbrella should be an S corporation and should be in your home state. If you don't have one, form it now. Today. While you can still get one with a 2014 year. (This is critical when building business credit for "seasoning" purposes.)
Here's how I detailed the process out for Caesar, Ronnie's cousin who, I may add, is in Michigan but I suggest you read through it, especially for the details on the EIN with the IRS which applies to EVERYONE, no matter WHERE you are forming your corporation!
Remember, your umbrella corporation should be in your home state but I just wanted to demonstrate the steps I laid out for him on how to do this.
Article I: Name that you want your corporation to be. I recommend putting an "Inc." after the name you are seeking since it's short and sweet. Other acceptable extensions can be "Ltd." or "Incorporated" spelled out or "Limited" spelled out or "Corp." or "Corporation" spelled out. You can choose your own extension but you CANNOT use "LLC" since we're not setting up this entity that way. Please note that when you choose a lengthy extension such as spelling out "Corporation," you will be stuck using that entire extension on every document you use which just makes writing it out more tedious and time-consuming.
Article II: Under purpose, you'll have to designate what you plan on doing with the corporation. No need for a lengthy paragraph. Just describe it in a few words and indicate that you'll be providing "consulting" as opposed to selling products.
Article III: When you get to the section on page 1 (in the middle) under Article III where it says number of shares, don't let this throw you. Here's what you put:
Common Shares: 100
Preferred Shares: 0 (or leave blank)
And leave the 2nd part in that same box (#2) blank for statement of relative rights.
Article IV: This is the part where it would be helpful if you had your street address from The UPS Store or somewhere that has mail boxes. Use the same address for all 3 entries and try not to use your home address, as it exposes where you live publically.
Article V: (Page 2) Put your name and then your business address on one line. Leave the rest blank. Don't add any more people.
On the 3rd page, leave the top portion blank. About 2/3 down the page, put today's date. When you print out the form for mailing, you'll sign on the first line under the date.
On the 4th page at the top, put your full name as the preparer and again as the person remitting the fees. Put your cell # as your business phone number.
At the bottom of the same page, type in $50.00 for the organizational fee. There's already a $10.00 fee under that. Then add them together for $60.00 which is what you'll be writing them a check for.
Print out the form and mail it with the $60.00 to:
Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs
Corporations, Securities & Commercial Licensing Bureau
Corporations Division
P.O. Box 30054
Lansing, MI 48909
DON'T FORGET TO SIGN THE BOTTOM OF PAGE 4.
Once you do all that, wait the 2 weeks to get the paperwork back. Don't waste your money on express service or anything. Michigan is pretty fast in processing paperwork. It takes me 2 weeks to get it out here in California so you'll probably get something back in a week. Keep a file for all your corporate paperwork!
The second you get the paperwork, go to this IRS link:
NOTE: PLEASE FILL THIS OUT WHEN SITTING AT A DESKTOP OR LAPTOP WITH A PRINTERATTACHED, AS YOU WILL NEED TO PRINT OUT YOUR EIN WHEN YOU THE SYSTEM KICKS IT OUT TO YOU WHICH HAPPENS THE MOMENT YOU SUBMIT YOUR ONLINE APPLICATION.
Once you complete this step, you can go to the bank with your corporate documents and open up a business bank account. I suggest using Bank of America but that's just my personal preference, as most other banks I've used really suck.
The moment you get your EIN, fill out this IRS form and then fax or mail it off the same day:
For Form 2553, this is to take you from a C corporation to an S corporation:
The first part is self explanatory. Where it gets confusing is at Part E. Put the date that is stamped on the Michigan corporation paperwork. Under F, check the FIRST box only. DO NOT check the box for G. Under H, put your name and cell number. Nobody ever calls so don't worry. Leave the rest of page 1 blank, put yourself as "CEO" as your title ALWAYS on ALL paperwork for everything from now on.
On page 2, just fill in your name, the date, put "100" for % of ownership, date corporation was formed (as per MI paperwork), your SS#, and then put 12/31 in the last box. All S corporations and LLCs end on the last day of the year. Leave the rest of page 2 blank (but make sure you SIGN pages 1 and 2 once you print them out).
On page 3, under Part O, check the first box only. Under P, check the first box for "natural" tax year. Then DO NOT FILL OUT ANYTHING ELSE ON THIS PAGE. NO MORE CHECK BOXES and IGNORE Part III. The last page doesn't apply to you but I always include it in my filings.
Mail or fax the form. I like faxing since I get a confirmation of their receipt of the document and I get to keep the original document for my file in case they claim they never got it.
You'll be receiving some letters in the mail from the IRS. They are just formalities. The first letter will be confirmation of your EIN. The second will be confirmation that they received your 2553. SAVE EVERYTHING IN A PLACE YOU CAN FIND IT. If you lose your 2553 confirmation, they can screw you later if it's not in their system that you're an S corporation due to a C corporations double-taxation standards. (This happened to me once. And I saved myself from a huge audit AND fine by having my proof from THEM that I was an S corporation so SAVE EVERYTHING.)
By the way, for those of you who want to invest in property in Michigan (which is a KILLER STATE for high cash flowing properties), here's a link for forming an LLC (for a property deal in Michigan): http://www.dleg.state.mi.us/bcsc/forms/corp/llc/700.pdf
The Michigan LLC formation has to be the simplest form I've ever seen. It's even easier to fill out than the for-profit corporation since an LLC doesn't have details for shares. Section V is where you have to specify your "partners" such as indicating the name of your umbrella corporation as the manager of the LLC.
Important: When you are filing for the LLC's EIN online, make sure you select the LLC button and then make sure that you specify that there will be 2 on the LLC. (If you don't, the IRS will immediately warn you that it will "disregard" you as an LLC since you can't be a "single member" anymore.)
And, again, the 2 entities are:
1) You
2) Your umbrella S corporation in your home state
This is also how you "borrow" your own credit (and your built business credit from your umbrella corporation) to purchase a property since both entities (you and your umbrella corporation) are on the property's LLC.
By the way, the LLC must be in the state where the property is located and not your home state (unless you are purchasing property in your home state). Furthermore, don't use your umbrella corporation to purchase the property.
So, did you get all that?
If not, just shoot me an email: mm@monicamain.com
See you at the top!
Your mentor,
Monica Main
P.S. We still have seats left for our mind-blowing power-packed event in Detroit where you can meet real lenders, brokers, and money people to get you cash for your deals. Plus, those who show up to the event get to participate in the $9,000,000 Opportunity. Click on this link for more details: http://www.monicamain.com/underground_secret_event_in_detroit
Okay, maybe I was a little hard on you guys and gals the other day when I exploded. I would say "sorry" except that I meant every word to the offenders who were guilty as charged.
To be perfectly clear, I obviously (and I was hoping you would have gotten this part)wasn't targeting those of you who are nice and respectful, which -- I might add -- accounts for significant portion of my students. But I do appreciate those of you who were sweet enough to call Rose and say that you were sorry...even though you weren't the offenders I was talking about. (Never apologize for something somebody else did! Nice gesture, though!)
So...as the week grinds on (and ends soon), I feel like I'm recessing deeper and deeper into the throes of the Twilight Zone.
For one, the government has been spraying like a mad dog in the desert skies above where I live. I notice that each time they do this, the Midwest gets a major weather ass-beating. I'm guessing that all this spraying is a weak attempt to try to control the weather while probably killing us in the meantime.
And then there are the dummies who call themselves the "upper-middle" class who all think it's July 23rd today.
Yes, you read that correctly. They think it's freaking July 23rd.
After my daughter's bullying incident with that little snot-head, Jake, I now sign in every morning and walk her to her class at school. When I signed in this morning, about 8 other parents had already signed in, copying was Dopey Parent #1 put in for today's date as being 07-23-2014. So the rest of the dummies signed in copying the same date underneath until I came in as Parent #9 writing down the REAL date of 10-23-2014.
I swear, it's unbelievable how people get through the world in this day and age because almost no one has their head screwed on...at all!
Must be all the spraying in the sky that they're doing. It's starting to diminish everyone's brain cell counts around here without them being none the wiser.
I mean 07/23/2014. Really?! Is everyone that way off? Last I remember, my daughter wasn't even school that entire month.
In the midst of dealing with all this, I got some really good news this morning. My investor-partner from Texas said he'll up his "money pot" a little bit from the $9 million. I'm trying to push him to an even $10 million but I don't know if he'll do it. So, it's just in the middle, between the $9 million and $10 million mark.
And in case you have no idea what I'm talking about, I have an investor-partner who started hitting me up for properties a short time back and I convinced him that the best route to take would be to work with my students...give them an opportunity to bring him investor-partnership deals where he will offer anywhere from a 25% to a 50% gained equity and monthly cash flow split, depending on the property and how much you have a hand in the management.
This is a great way for you to get your foot in the door if you're trying to get into the business as a passive income real estate investor with no cash and no credit.
So, how is this $9 million (and counting) dispersed?
It's to be used as down payment funds. So, if a student brings him a building that's $3 million, typically there is a 20% down payment requirement so $600,000 of the "pot" would then be used on the deal.
And this goes on and on until the $9 million + is tapped out.
All of this will be explained at the seminar event.
Again, for those of you who do not attend both days, you cannot participate in this opportunity. No exceptions this time.
Some of you remember two years ago when I brought my students the $25 million opportunity for the SFR REO property deals. A total of 19 students participated and a handful of them became multi-millionaires because of the opportunity.
This deal is a tad different because we're working with multifamily properties (and not residential homes), the properties have to have an occupancy (and cannot be abandoned/vacant buildings), and they have to be in reasonably good shape. Cosmetic rehab is okay but no "gut-to-the-studs" rehab.
This means that the $9 million will actually go a much longer way than the $25 million.
How do I figure?
Because the $9 million is a 20% down payment (not including due diligence, closing costs, or rehab funds). This means we can purchase $45 million in property with this money.
And that's even better than the $25 million deal! (I kept telling you that it's better!)
Unlike the $25 million deal where I allowed some students (from mentorship groups, etc.) to participate in this deal, the $9 million deal is for only those who attend my 2-day Detroit event on November 24th and 15th
If you didn't register yet, you can still get a kick-ass pricing deal. Pricing will go up at the close of business on Halloween next Friday. And it will go up in a major way!
It seems that I always tell you about the great things about buying and owning passive income real estate, especially the monthly cash flow that just keeps growing and getting bigger as the years drone on (due to increased cost of living).
But...what about the bad stuff that can happen? How come I never talk about that?
Well, good thing you brought that up because that's what I'm about to do now. I'm going to share with you a real life property horror story that actually happened to me a few short years ago and what I did to get out of the situation. Some things, of course, can't be circumvented at all and you can chalk that up to taking a risk in this big thing we're all participating in called "life." Most things, however, can be rectified if you think creatively enough.
Here's one such thing that couldn't be circumvented...at least for me. But I'll tell you what I ended up doing in order to distance myself from this "problem child" property as fast as I could.
Years ago I had a property in a seedy area of what I like to refer to as the ghetto because...well, that's where it was. Deep in the heart of the ghetto in a low D-class property.
By the way, not to stop the story midstream or anything but I should mention as progressive lesson here that there are "good" class D properties and "bad" class D properties. Here's my own personal invented scale as such:
Class D- = war zone, burned out buildings, and drive-by shootings every hour; this would be an area to avoid at all costs!
Class D = on the border of the war zone described above but "leaning" toward the "better" areas...still an area to avoid because the bad parts of the ghetto will bleed into this area, giving you more of a headache than it's worth.
Class D+ = obviously if you're going to do a class D property, this is what you're aiming for. These are considered high risk to other investors because they can switch to a regular (or D-) at any time but they can be incredibly profitable. These would be your "up and coming" areas where a lot of investors come in and, as a comrade effort, try to redevelop certain blocks or areas. They could, at some point, be reclassified as a class C which, of course, would greatly benefit you financially.
Class D, I should mention, is an unofficial class but any real estate broker or agent you talk to knows full well what "class D" means so...I guess it really is a "real" class if you think about it.
Anyway, this property we're speaking of was a small building of only 6 units. It was the second to the last building on a corner in a quint neighborhood fitting your "regular" class D description above but bordering on Class C which was literally one block over.
Unfortunately, after purchasing the property, doing minor rehab, and curing the vacancies in 2 of the 6 units, there was a shooting right on the corner next to where this building was situated. All 6 of the tenants in the building had vacated the property in less than 6 months after because, unfortunately, it wasn't just a shooting but someone involved in the shooting bled to death on that very corner right next to a stop sign situated there.
What an inexperienced investor would have done would have been to throw their hands up and walk away, crying in their beer at a local bar over how life is unfair (probably while the local residents were stripping out the building at the very same time).
However, being a little more experienced than that I realize that sometimes sh** happens and you have to keep moving forward, right?
I have no control over what happens and I'll be damned if I never take a risk doing anything otherwise I'd never get anywhere in life. I refused to lose on this deal.
So, I took quick, swift action to refill the building. I offered 2 fr*ee months to new tenants coming in, no credit check, income verification with 2 months worth of paycheck stubs, and a security deposit that reflected only half of one month's rent. I filled all 6 units in a week and a half.
Next, I put the property up for sale using proforma numbers (like everybody else does). I didn't throw it up for sale at some ridiculous low ball price otherwise investors get suspicious. Instead, I put it up for sale for just under double what it would normally sell for. (Take note, this is reverse psychology.) I didn't honestly think I'd sell it for that but I absolutely refused to lead anyone to ask the question, "This property is cheap so...what'swrong with it then?"
And nobody asked that question.
Within 2 months, the property was under contract. A man in Texas wanted to buy it. And holy sh**...he gave me my exact asking price. Go figure!
What was that price? $195,000! And the property (with rent-paying tenants at full occupancy) was maybe worth $100,000 tops! (By the way, I paid $73,500 for this same property. I put $20,000 into it. I actually made $101,500 in profits on this deal in a total period of 10 months. Not bad!)
What's the lesson here for you?
1) You can't not take a risk because of what may happen because you never know. This property was at a border C/D class area and these types of murders/shootings usually don't happen here. If you think about it, people can get killed in Beverly Hills or Malibu, too. Unless you have a crystal ball, you never know what can happen and where it can happen. After doing the best risk/reward ratio you can do, go for it otherwise you'll be exactly where you are now in 5 or 10 years from now. And we don't want that, do we?
2) Don't be an out-of-state investor without doing some type of due diligence on a property including (1) what did the seller pay for the property? (2) when did the seller buy the property? (3) what is the "seasoning" of the tenants (or how long have they lived on the property)? (4) what are the "comps" of recent sales in the area per unit/door? and (5) what does the recent crime report in the neighborhood look like by simply calling the local police department? It's okay to be an out-of-state investor but get to know your area really well (and you can do this by never leaving your house in your own area). Know what you should be paying per door and what you shouldn't be paying per door. Get to know how much rent is for each type of unit in a unit mix. Get to know how bad it is by getting a crime report. Find out how "gritty" of an area you can go and where it gets so bad that it becomes off limits.
3) Realize that sometimes your exit strategy may change midstream. And that's okay. You may have had plans to do the buy-and-hold plan with a property and then you realize sometime after you rehabbed it and filled up the units that, perhaps, it's gained a considerable enough equity that you'd rather resell it to get the money out for a larger property. And this is completely okay. Just don't sell the property and blow the money. Keep investing!
4) Understand that sometimes stuff will happen with a property. That's just how it goes with property ownership. But the better you do with due diligence before you purchase your property will determine how bad things will be post-escrow for you. For example, if you're too cheap to hire a property inspector for a thousand bucks or two, don't be surprised if your interior walls are ridden with black mold that has to be specially remediated, costing tens of thousands of dollars. (By the way, this would have been something you would have been able to have to seller pay for if you caught it in the due diligence period during escrow.)
As far as investments go, in comparison to everything else out there, you can't beat passive income real estate. You just can't. This is why your wealthiest of wealthy all own real estate. They're not doing it to keep up with the Jones' or to have something to talk about at cocktail parties. It's because, hands down, it's the best way to attain and retain wealth.
And if multi-millionaires are doing it, it simply means it's a viable kick-ass opportunity that is making a lot of people very wealthy. (Last time I checked, nobody was getting rich stuffing envelopes or signing up for a network marketing opportunity. I'm just saying...maybe you need to ask yourself if real multi-millionaires are getting rich doing whatever opportunity you're looking at to figure out if it's worth you doing or not!)
One thing I have to offer you is the opportunity to not only discover how to do all this (and directly from people who are successful doing it) but to offer you the opportunity to connect with the people who can fund your deals for you. Without OPM (other people's money), getting involved in real estate becomes impossible to do.
But I have those money connections for you...
Here's where: Detroit, Michigan
Here's when: November 14th & 15th
Here's more information on this event:
http://www.monicamain.com/underground_secret_event_in_detroit
If you have any questions, give us a call at (661) 295-5050.
I try not to go out much in public anymore because when I do, I'm more and more convinced of the theory that we're "dumbing down" here in America.
Like today, for instance. A guy almost backed into my 6-year-old as we were walking through the parking lot. And we were in the middle of a parking space so...if there was a car where we were standing, he would have backed right into it, taking out at least half of his cheap POS vehicle in the process. Apparently he either doesn't know how to use his rear view mirror, is too lazy to look over his shoulder like they teach you in driver's ed, or is just a mentally challenged individual who mistakenly got a driver's license from the DMV from one of the many mentally stupid people who work there.
And how old was this guy? After all, you're probably thinking that maybe he was 101 years old, right?
Nope. Not the case. The guy was probably around 27 or so. No excuse there.
The excuse, if there is one, is just plain stupidity or what they refer to as the "dumbing down of America."
And if you're not sure what I'm talking about, go to a Walgreen's just about anywhere in the country and try to talk to just about anyone who works there and you'll see what I mean. Still not convinced? Then go to a Wal-Mart, repeat my instructions above, then you shouldn't be confused anymore as to what I'm talking about.
And if you work at a Walgreen's or a Wal-Mart, I'm sorry. Actually, no, I'm not sorry. Not at all. Because at this phase in your life, you should be somewhere else, especially if you've been listening to me for any length of time.
My dad had a theory years ago as to why all these dummies are coming to the surface and becoming more obvious as the rest of have to try even harder to navigate through an already difficult life without extra dopes as being obstacles. He said that since our American factories and lower-level jobs have been transferred overseas, a lot of these "assembly-line-worker-mentalities" have come out of the woodwork to enter the face of retail and other jobs where they're routinely seen by the public.
I'm not sure if I really agree with his theory. I think segments of people through the ages have been stupid on one level or another with or without the Industrial Age coming and then quickly going. I think the "dumbing down" has to do with a variety of different factors including the sense of American entitlement, lazy youth, too much technology and stimulus, less physical activity, no "alone" or quiet time to think...and then the "government conspiracy" factors including stuff "they" are putting in our food (including the invention of GMOs), crap they're spraying in the sky (look up "chem trails") to alter the weather, viruses and diseases "they" poison us with in shots to get rid of certain parts of the population, refusal to embrace green energy in lieu of fossil fuels which are killing us, etc.
On the topic of "chem trails," not but about three weeks ago my daughter points to this cloud in the sky as we were walking home from school. She says, "Look at that cloud." And I look at the cloud thinking, so f****** what?! I'm like, "Yeah, a cloud. Great." She said, "No, mommy, look at the cloud. It's weird."
I focused on the cloud. And yes, it was weird. The cloud, at an immediate glance, looked like a healthy ultra-white fluffy cloud. But when I looked closer, it had this misty congealing movement within the cloud like it was made of a fast-moving gas or something. It quickly started getting smaller. Within a total of 3 minutes, it went from this over-sized super-large fluffy puffy cloud to completely gone. Yes, it wascompletely freaking gone from the sky! And there were several others I could see farther away that were doing the same thing.
A neighbor asked us what we were looking at and I told him that they have new "chem trails" now in the form of disappearing clouds. I said that the government is spraying some crap in the sky and that they're probably trying to kill us. He shrugged his shoulders and said, "Probably." Then he walked away.
Apparently none of this bothers anyone. I guess nobody should get all riled up over something they can't do anything about. Still, shouldn't people be even remotely concerned about what is going on here?
I think all of this together is part of why people are getting so stupid. Plus, if you think about it, the government has no use for Rebel Rousers, people who buck the system, or God forbid...anyone who can think for themselves! They just don't want that.
What alarms me is that nobody seems to care what's going on. Is it because you feel helpless to rage against the machine?
I don't blame you. But there are some things you can do to claim some of your power back.
First of all, keep close tabs on your diet. What are you consuming? What are you drinking? Unfortunately the hormones and pesticides in our food supply (namely meat and poultry products) isn't doing you a damn bit of good, especially in the brain department. What about GMOs? Lots of problems there. Look it up if you don't know what I'm talking about.
You can't really control the air you breathe unless you plan on toting around an oxygen tank attached to the mask on your head. So, you're screwed there. But maybe that annual flu shot isn't really as necessary as you think it is. (I'm just saying...)
You can limit the amount of time you waste watching television and on Facebookand reading the 1,562 comments on the latest Kanye-Kardashian Yahoo! article. (I know, I'm guilty of that, too!) All of this is a mindless distraction will do nothing but whittle your valuable hours away. And that's the only resource we all start out with:time. If you haven't noticed, we get less and less of this "time" as the days droll on.
You can put together a solid action plan in bite-size action steps that you can work on everyday. The plan has to be something that excites you where you can easily see the end-goal in your mind's eye.
I think the other thing that throws people is that they believe attaining success is difficult. I can tell you from first-hand experience that getting success isn't hard. Keeping success...well, that's another story. But making that million dollars...easy. Getting the property deal...easy. Starting a successful home-based business...easy.
Keeping it all in tact for any length of time...hard. Very hard! This is the part that requires you to keep your energy levels and focus very high at all times. And that becomes just downright near impossible. (This is why a lot of millionaires go through financial turbulence here and there; this is because the energy and focus required to keep it all together over the course of long period of time is difficult.)
Attaining success of any kind just a matter of steps and, most importantly,following the steps.
And the good news about building a Passive Income Empire is that, when your energy and focus go down (or you just need a break), your income keeps coming innomatterwhat. If all you have is an Aggressive Income Empire, the moment your focus and energy sink, so does your business. And in cases where there is a severe energy drain such as a divorce, the business typically goes down the tubes, too. Not the case with Passive Income. It stays intact during the ebbs and flows of your levels of energy and focus.
Building a Passive Income Empire is what I'll be talking about in Detroit on November 14th and 15th. But there's a key reason why I'm having this event in Detroit and it has to do with the money people I'm bringing in. Click here for more details.
And these are the people that you'll need to connect with if you want money for your deals.
As you know, real estate is completely and totally an OPM (other people's money) business. Without OPM, you fail in real estate investing. And without real estate, you don't build your ideal Passive Income Empire.
I'm bringing in some people that can change your life when it comes to getting funding for your deals. You'll also have access to the 100% LTV program and, no, this isn't about "deferred" transactional funding. It's a special investor-partner program by a firm based on the east coast. And they can't wait to see what kind of deals you have!
If you don't have any deals, don't worry about it. Just come to make the connections because without getting funding, your real estate business will stall. Even with my 100% LTV Strategy (that I'll be showing you at the event), you'll eventually have to get funding for that deal and it's never too early to start making the right connections including contacts with bankers, lenders, brokers, and money people.
Since this is an Underground Secret Event, I'm not at liberty to tell you all the details about who will be there and everything that will be talked about including the special Investment Opportunity that will blow your mind (and is only for those who attend the event).
The basement-bottom pricing deal on this event ends this week. Here's the link:
We're going through a couple of eclipses this month. Since my mom touted herself as an amateur astrologer, I grew up with all this astrological knowledge being thrown my way from sun signs, rising signs, conjunctions, trines, and a bunch of other stuff I still don't understand.
Astrology is a give or take kind of thing with me. Sometimes some of the stuff seems relevant and other times it doesn't. I'm not sure it's a good idea to completely revolve your schedule around astrological dates and happenings as any astrologer will dole them out to you.
But...
One significantthing I did notice this year were the eclipses that took place in April, most notably the one on April 15th. No, I didn't go outside to watch it or anything but I did notice the events that unfolded after that date.
This was the time when I had that major verbal explosion with my former employee Jeanine. It happened the day after the eclipse. And that was the day I decided I wanted to close everything down. And it was also when I asked Lea what she wanted to do, in which case she told me she wanted to retire (or get away from me). This was all finalized with her by the end of the month when our second April eclipse hit.
So...they (the astrologers) said that this October eclipse from yesterday was supposed to tie into what happened on April 15th.
And I cringed like you couldn't believe because I just situated myself here in my new office/warehouse, I seem to be reasonable content/happy, and I didn't want to bring back those old feelings of wanting to lock the doors and walk away.
Yet that's exactly what happened yesterday!
A couple of weeks ago a scumbag trailer-park trash bitch who worked for me for a total of 6 weeks (if that long) decided that she wanted to fake a "ladder" fall (which was actually off a 2-foot step stool) for a bogus worker's compensation claim. And it's been nothing but problems with her up until today when she got her last check. I smudged the hell out of my office just to get her bad energy out of here, once and for all.
Then the other day, the LA County Tax Assessor shows up at my door to "assess" my office and warehouse so they can tax me on the stuff I bought and already paid taxes on WHEN I bought the sh** years ago! In fact, I'm supposed to pay LA County taxes on my office furniture, shelving, equipment and computers EACH YEAR for...forever, I guess. Usually they send me a form in the mail with an area for itemization of my furniture and computers, in which case I tell them that I have 5 things in my office and each were purchased at a garage sale for $5 each, thus giving my "total value" of office desks and equipment at $25, paying taxes on a small fraction of that. I guess they found that too many people were doing that, hence the need for the door-to-door "assessment." Broke ass California! What's next?
Top that off yesterday with one of my employees telling me that she doesn't have time to do data entry because she's "swamped" yet she's asking another employee if she can help her stuff envelopes because she's bored and has nothing to do. WTF? Am I in the freaking Twilight Zone here??
And then this tops it off and this is really gross: today one of my employees is having her menstrual cycle so she bleeds all over the floor in the bathroom, and doesn't clean it up. I know...puke! Right? And this just happened a few hours ago!
So here I am in the exact same boat I was on April 16th...wondering, "What the f*** am I still doing here? Why do I keep torturing myself in this way?"
Maybe there is something to this eclipse thing.
I realize I screwed up. I should have stayed in my old office/warehouse until the end of the lease period (December 31st) then told everybody to kick rocks while I simply focused on my real estate investing, doing nothing else. I would have kept on track for my "end" date that I initially planned.
Now I'm on the hook until June 30th.
What was I thinking??
Well, just a 6-month miscalculation, that's all. Nothing life altering. But I'm still kicking myself in the ass for making that miscalculations because I hate screwing up. Don't you?
Do me a favor: if I don't follow through with shutting this bitch down by July 2015, come out here and slap me across the face multiple times while reminding me that I'm screwing up again, okay? Please??
So, what does this all mean?
It means that we all screw up. We all take on more than we can realistically do. We all think we're infallible at times. But when we set out on a specific course then majorly deviate from it, if the initial course of action was good for us (and deviation isn't good for us) then we'll be immediately reminded that we need to get back on the path.
And it means that we can change course at any timeonadime. If something isn't working in your life, change it. It's that simple! (Really, it is. We spend more time making excuses rather than just doing it and moving forward!)
As with what happened to me yesterday.
I think I wanted to keep this beast going because I love my students, like teaching people financial independence, and I don't want that part to end. So, if somebody can show me a way that I can keep doing that without having the staff and overhead and the bullshit that comes along with it all, I'm all ears! We have until June 30th to figure this sh** out.
In the meantime, the good news is that I have gone back to becoming a real estate investing maniac. I feel like it's 2010 again except...well, it's not 2010. That was the year where I felt unstoppable and acquired more property than I ever had in any given year...combined. It was also the year when I lost more property than I ever had too. (Remember Divorce #2? That's why.)
This is how and why I'm doing the Detroit event next month. I'm excited and fired up these days! I've been so immersed in real estate investing right now that I'm going happy crazy with new deals, cash flows, opportunities that I never saw and, yes, I'm actually getting involved with buying apartments from auction website! I know, holy sh**, right? (I'm usually anti-auction!)
And I want you to be part of all this churning excitement just because there are some things that you absolutely have to become a part of if you want financial freedom with alifetime of monthly passive income without ever having to worry about a job or getting a paycheck or, as with me, dealing with the life and times of running a business with a staff and overhead. (Yuck! That is so...1990s.)
By the way, if you still don't understand why you need to get involved in some kind of investing where you can get a monthly stream of income without having to "work" continuously on a treadmill for it, my star apartment building student Stephen Scott actually sent me a picture of him standing next to ex-Dallas Cowboy football player, Vince Albritton. (I never heard of him but, then again, I'm not a sports fan at all!) He came to visit Stephen on one of his properties last week because, well...Vincent is now a plumber. You see, since he didn't invest a single cent of the money he made as a football player, he's now forced to do things he doesn't want to do even though he's now getting up there in age.
Now he's getting advice from Stephen about how to get started as a real estate investor, investing in apartment buildings in Dallas. Quite honestly, he couldn't have a better teacher than Stephen Scott!
Can you image if all these celebrities who ended up broke like Ed McMahon or MC Hammer or Toni Braxton or Mike Tyson (and the list goes on and on) actually took only a measly 10% of their earnings to inject into some type of passive income real estate during their careers? They would never have gone broke if they did!
Here are the things that I'll be bringing to you next month at the event:
1) Money. That's right. I have money people at this event. One guy is so powerful that he can make (or break) your cash flow investing business. He's coming to this event to make you an offer you can't refuse!
2) The 100% LTV bond program. No, this isn't "deferred" transactional funding or seller financing. This is an investor partner program for specific deals over $5 million where you can get all the cash and even money for rehab if you go in with these guys. This program (and how you can get in) will be fully explained at this event since there are new elements to this that makes this cash much more accessible than ever before!
3) The exact mechanics of how to do all this stuff. At my last event, I only dedicated one day to real estate investing when it easily could have filled 2 days. So, I'll be including all the details from start to finish on how to get no-cash-no-credit real estate deals, spending time on exactly where to invest.
4) The Opportunity. Just like 2 years ago when I presented the $25,000,000 Opportunity with my Indian investor partners, I'll be presenting something like it...but different. And in my opinion, better. But, unlike the $25,000,000 Opportunity, only those who attend this event will be able to benefit from this while everyone else can...pound sand, kick rocks, whatever. There aren't that many "slots" to be able to take advantage of this and by presenting this to a room of 80 to 100 people will give me plenty of people who will fall into the handful of slots that exists right now.
Want to attend but you're not sure? Since this basement-bottom pricing deal is ending soon, I'm allowing my students to be able to do a $100 hold deposit. This way if you can "lock in" the deal before the end-all Blow Out date. You have until Thursday to put down your deposit to lock in the deal. The pricing deal ends next Friday at 5pm Pacific Time.
It's that time again where I'm starting to feel that "brain squeeze" feeling. It sort of feels like between getting a "brain freeze" from ice cream and passing out on a hot day because you're not hydrated enough.
This happens to me when I'm overwhelmed. Helplessly overwhelmed, actually.
I do this to myself all the time. I take on 101 projects thinking I can do everything at once and...guess what? I can't! (What a surprise!) I can do about 21 things at once but when I exceed that to 22 or more, that's when things get out of hand.
Right now I have several Detroit property deals I'm working on right now that, once I close on these deals, I'll be raking in an extra $30,000 a month. Because, you know, I need the extra money, right? :-)
You know what's really driving me crazy? The more "perfect" my life becomes, the more I'm feeling like something isn't quite right. I live in a "perfect" neighborhood with "perfect" neighbors in a "perfect" upscale town in northern Los Angeles County.
Yet my insides are screaming bloody murder!
I feel like that scene in Titanic when Rose runs out of the dinner party to the end of the ship where she almost jumps off.
Why am I telling you all this?
Because part of the reason I'm getting that "crunch" feeling is because of what I have coming up next month. I'm getting anxious because...holy sh**...I think I may have outdone myself this time and I can't freaking believe it.
Today I got a call from another investor of mine who is kicking ass with getting properties in the Detroit area and making a fortune doing it. He has a very unique way of acquiring his properties with a specific method that I started showing my students (for the very first time ever) at my last event last month.
And he just agreed to speak next month at my event!
He's going to be talking about a single "missing piece" that I didn't have time to get around to talking about last month. Remember, I was trying to pack 3 days of information into 2 long days last month. So, I did my very best to get as much info in there...and I did!
But I didn't get it all in.
This guy's name is Joe. That's all I'll mention. And the guy is a freaking genius when it comes to real estate investing. In fact, he's been so successful using this one specific method that we'll be talking about at my event next month...and he just agreed that he'll be speaking about this particular unique methodology that I've never fully discussed or revealed in any way before!
So...now I have 4 speakers plus me...a total of 5 speakers so far and I'm still waiting on possibly one more.
All of these people who will be speaking at the event in Detroit on November 14th and 15th have some power and pull in helping you get to where you want to be with your real estate investing goals. At least 3 of the 5 people speaking so far have the power of getting you money (including 100% LTVs) on property deals.
And the 100% LTV I'm talking about is a special partnership financing opportunity with cold hard cash and has nothing to do with DPA or "deferred" transactional funding.
How awesome is that!
Additionally, I have an "offer you can't refuse" with a special investment opportunity that will be only for those who show up to the event. You don't show up, you don't get to participate in this opportunity. Period. No exceptions at all.
If you recall, a couple of years ago I did an Underground Secret Event in Detroit where my Indian investor partners were putting in $25,000,000 in American property, specifically "SFR foreclosure portfolios" being sold by the lot (25 to 100 houses) in any major city in the United States. Nineteen of my students participated in this opportunity and a handful of them retired multi-millionaires because of it.
The opportunity, of course, was short lived as I warned my students it would be.
This opportunity will be different but much more profitable from a passive income angle. Unlike the SFR opportunity as I just outlined above, this is all about multifamily passive income assets.
But you have to register and actually show up to the event for you to be able to benefit from this one-time opportunity. You don't attend, you can't participate.
Like I mentioned, with my last kick-ass opportunity 2 years ago, 19 students made a lot of money with my investor-partner's money. A handful of them went on to become multi-millionaires. Yes, multi-millionaires. You did read that correctly.
The same thing could happen to you because this opportunity I'll be presenting, just like the opportunity 2 years ago, can be just as powerful if not more powerful!
I know this is last minute and the only reason I waited so long to tell my students about this event is that I was waiting on getting the "green light" from a very powerful man who can completely change your life when it comes to getting funds for your real estate deals. He's never spoken at any of my events, probably will never speak at another event of mine, and is probably the most powerful person I've ever had speak at any of my events.
You don't want to miss what he has to say because, as I mentioned, he could change your life in what he can do for you.
And again, this is only for those of you who want to attend the event. The deal is off for the opportunity and for what my powerful speakers have to provide to you if you want to get the videos later. The videos will, of course, reveal important details about real estate investing but you won't have access to the opportunities presented unless your ass is in one of those seats in downtown Detroit on November 14th and 15th.
If real estate investing is important to you, you'll make this trip out. If it's not then you'll make 101 excuses as to why you can't be there.
By the way, I'll add another few things:
1) Right now I have a BOGO deal going on where it's a buy-one-get-one fr*ee deal. Pay for yourself and bring someone else for fr*ee.
2) I have a deal where -- for the first time ever -- I'm allowing my students to do a payment plan to start before this event and end after the event is over! I have never done that before. This is how confident I am that this event can change your life and I want everyone who can come to come to this thing! (And if you need a special payment plan than what's on my website, let us know by calling our office at 661-295-5050.)
3) I'm offering a special bonus to join my brand new normally 6-week (scrunched into 31 days to get it done before Thanksgiving) 100% LTV Mentorship group that starts on October 20th. There's an option where you can get into this group for fr*ee by registering for the seminar. You'll understand my full method on 100% LTV investing strategy (and this has nothing to do with DPA or "deferred" transactional funding). You'll be able to hit the ground running come January since 2015 is the year of multifamily investing!
Here's the link to get more information about this mind-blowing event:
