The Tony Stephan Show · Episode #016
New Multifamily Investor Buys 19 Unit Apartment (Deal Breakdown)
Victoria bought her first property in 2017: a land bank house in Detroit for $1,000, which needed about $25,000 to $30,000 of rehab and which she says is worth about $98,000 today. She then bought single family homes that needed only light work, all of which she owns free and clear, and a fourplex. Her total portfolio is now 32 units.
She is big on cash flow and diversification. Her houses pay for her lifestyle, and she wanted to scale faster than one house per transaction. After joining Tony's mentorship, she closed in December on a 19 unit in Detroit, near where she grew up. The previous owners did not take good care of it, which she sees as her chance to put her stamp on it, starting with plumbing and electrical. She liked the brick exterior and the basement laundry rooms.
She admits she was nervous and expects the first year to break even while everything goes back into the building. Victoria has run a tax business for about 10 years, and she and Tony discuss real estate professional status and cost segregation. Her lessons: do not overthink it, know what work should cost, be coachable, and remember that family and legacy are the reason.
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Key takeaways
- Know what you want from a deal. Victoria's goal is cash flow; Tony's focus is tax benefits and big paydays. Both are valid.
- One building means one roof, one tax bill, one water bill and one transaction. Scattered houses multiply all of it.
- Value add means buying a business that is underperforming today. Plan for year one to break even and reinvest.
- A portfolio can carry an underperforming property while it is being fixed.
- Know what work should cost. If you do not know what good work and fair prices look like, contractors can overcharge you.
- Do not overthink it. Victoria gives herself about 24 hours to decide.
Guest: Victoria
Victoria is a real estate investor from Detroit who bought her first property, a $1,000 land bank house, in 2017. She built a portfolio of free and clear single family homes and a fourplex, then closed on a 19 unit apartment in Detroit with Tony Stephan's mentorship, bringing her portfolio to 32 units. She has also run a tax business for about 10 years.
Chapters
- 0:00 Victoria's 19 Unit Deal and Background
- 2:22 Why She Chose Cash Flow and a Paid Off Portfolio
- 3:41 From Single Family to Multifamily
- 5:09 Breaking Down the 19 Unit Opportunity
- 6:00 Fear on Bigger Deals
- 7:00 Long Term Thinking vs Waiting
- 8:31 What Made This Deal Attractive
- 10:17 The Value Add Mindset
- 12:54 The Power of Scale
- 14:18 Tax Benefits of Multifamily
- 19:33 Biggest Lessons
- 21:19 Why You Must Be Hands On Early
- 22:00 Mentorship and Speed of Execution
- 24:39 Advice for First Time Investors
- 26:21 Recap
FAQ
How did Victoria start investing?
In 2017 she bought a land bank house in Detroit for $1,000 and put about $25,000 to $30,000 into the rehab. After that she bought houses that only needed light cosmetic work, then a fourplex, then the 19 unit.
Why does Victoria keep her single family homes?
For diversification and cash flow. Her houses are free and clear and pay for her lifestyle. Their cash flow can also support the 19 unit while she improves it.
Why did she move from houses to a 19 unit?
To scale faster. With houses, one transaction is one door. With an apartment building, she has one roof, one landscaping bill and one tax bill. Tony adds that 100 houses means 100 tax bills and 100 mortgages, while a 100 unit is one.
What tax benefits do they discuss?
Depreciation, cost segregation, which accelerates depreciation into the first year, and real estate professional status, which requires about 750 hours of active participation that you must actually track. Tony estimates a cost segregation study on a deal like this could create a large first year write off.
What is Victoria's advice for someone nervous about their first multifamily deal?
Get your ducks in a row, do your due diligence, write down what you want and then take action. She says she has missed opportunities by overthinking and now gives herself about 24 hours to decide.
Victoria's 19 Unit: From a $1,000 House to Multifamily
From a $1,000 house to 32 units
Victoria's first property, in 2017, was a land bank house in Detroit that cost $1,000. It needed a lot of work, about $25,000 to $30,000 of rehab, and she says it is worth about $98,000 today. After that she did not want to deal with land bank timelines, so she bought houses that were already rehabbed and needed only light cosmetic work. Then came a fourplex. Today her portfolio is 32 units, including the 19 unit she just closed on.
All of her single family homes are free and clear. "I'm big on diversifying," she says. She wanted her properties to pay for her mortgage, her cars and her vacations, so she was willing to go all in up front.
Tony points out that people buy with different goals. He cares most about tax benefits; Victoria cares most about cash flow. The important thing is knowing what you want and not copying someone else.
Why a 19 unit
She wanted to scale faster. "One transaction is one house," she says. With an apartment building, she has one roof and one landscaping bill. Tony adds that 100 houses means 100 tax bills, 100 water bills, 100 inspections and 100 mortgages to sign. A 100 unit is one.
She closed on the 19 unit in December. It is in Detroit, not far from where she grew up, and most of her properties are there. The previous owners did not take good care of it, and she sees that as her chance to make it what she wants, starting with plumbing and electrical. She liked the layout, the brick exterior and the basement areas that can become laundry rooms. Tony says curb appeal matters on small multifamily, and he likes classic brick buildings over houses cut up into units.
The fear and the plan
The jump from four units to 19 was big, and she admits her stomach was in knots. Tony says he feels fear on every deal; signing for a down payment always reminds him of what else that money could buy. Victoria's answer is to think long term. "If you don't start, then when are you ever going to start?" Tony adds that waiting only makes it more expensive; deals he bought at about $83,000 a door now trade for at least $100,000 in those areas.
She expects the first year to break even. "I'm going to put everything back into it," she says. Her cash flowing portfolio can support the building while she fixes it. Tony agrees: one of his 8 units had three evictions at once, and the rest of the portfolio carried it.
Taxes
Victoria has run a tax business for about 10 years, with several locations. She got into multifamily partly for the tax benefits she could not get with single family. They discuss depreciation, cost segregation, which pulls depreciation into year one, and real estate professional status, which requires about 750 hours of active participation. She stresses that you have to actually track those hours. Tony contrasts it with a 401k, where taxes are deferred to retirement instead of saved today.
Lessons
Her biggest lesson: do not overthink. She has missed opportunities by overthinking, so now she gives herself about 24 hours and decides. Be hands on early so you know what good work looks like and what it should cost. Get mentorship and be coachable: "Every mentor has a mentor." Tony adds his own rule: before you innovate, replicate.
Her advice to anyone nervous: "Get your ducks in a row and do it." She might stop at 100 units, but probably not. She thinks about her daughter and the legacy she wants to leave.
Transcript
0:00 My client Victoria just closed on a 19-unit apartment building with massive cash flow. She's a single family investor and a multifamily investor. She's here to share her story to help you get into the multifamily game. So much going on with you. So you bought a 19-unit apartment. Yeah. Do you still have single family rentals, too? Yeah. What's your total portfolio right now? 32. Dang. Yeah. Killing it. When did you buy your first one? 2017. Okay. 2017. What was your first deal? So it was actually a land bank house. Okay. Yeah, it was a thousand-dollar property. Wow. Yeah. Dang. A thousand dollars. What's it worth today? Like 98. And that's not bad of a return, right? Yeah. Right. What So you bought that, then like do you like walk us through like your portfolio journey?
0:50 Okay, so I started with like the land bank portfolio cuz it was like a thousand dollars, but of course there was like a lot of work that needed to be done to it. Yeah. So I was like, oh. Like Yeah. All this rehab. Yeah. And you know, as much money as I put into the rehab, probably it was like maybe like 25 or 30 at the time. But then I realized after that I didn't want to go through the land bank anymore because of course, you know, they gave timelines and things like that. So then I'm like, I want to go into properties that are more put together. So I don't have to do the rehab process. Right. Right. Yeah, so I just started buying after that properties that were already rehabbed but needed like light cosmetic stuff. So yeah. Got it. What was like So then like was it houses, duplexes, fourplexes?
1:37 No, houses. So they were all single family and then after that's when I moved into the four-unit. And then after that's when I said I want to go bigger. Yeah. Yeah. So What made you So a lot of people either start with single family, graduate to multifamily like I did, like you did, right? Some people just stay in single family. Like what made you want to keep the single family? Do you see yourself keeping it forever? Is it like a piece of your portfolio might move around? Yeah. Yeah, what are your thoughts about that? So I'm big on diversifying. Yeah, smart. So that's kind of where I was with it. I was like, let me just get some over here. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm always keep the single family cuz they're good for cash flow. For sure. So yeah. And remind me, do you don't have debt on those, right?
2:24 No, they're free and clear. Yeah, all of them. All of them. That's gnarly. Yeah. Right. So cash flow is very important for you, right? And that's what we always say like everyone buys with different goals, right? You know, I'm very big on like the tax benefits, like which you're a tax professional. We'll talk about. Yeah. You know, some people love the cash flow. How important is it for like someone watching this? Majority people watching the YouTube channel haven't bought their first deal yet, right? They're working towards that. How important is it to know what you want to get out of a deal and not get caught up on what other people are doing? I mean, I guess you got to kind of look at your life and what you want, what you're doing, and then try to decide off of that. Yeah. Right? Because like I already had a certain type of lifestyle before I started investing in real estate.
3:11 And I'm like, okay, well, I'm going to be big on cash flow because I want these properties to pay for like my mortgage, my cars, like my vacations. Yeah. So like I was willing to like go all in up front to get like the full Yeah. Payment, you know, over time. So Yep. That's what I did. Yeah, no, I love that. What made you want to then So you did the houses, you did the fourplex. Yeah. What made you want to get to multifamily then? I was just super interested in it. And then I want I'm like, okay, I need to scale faster. Like because I couldn't see myself keep buying single family, single family. I'm like It's tough. Yeah. Like what like one transaction is one house. Yeah, and then I was just thinking about like, okay, like we went through this like I got one roof now just entire apartment complex.
4:01 I got one landscaping bill. Everything is just there versus it being like everywhere. So I think that's pretty neat. Yeah, no, most people don't understand that. And like I didn't understand that at first. I thought like units is everything. Yeah. Right? If I have a hundred houses, that's a hundred units. Like that's the same as a hundred-unit apartment. It's not because if unless those hundred units or hundred houses are like all on the same street, right? But you said that's a hundred roofs. Yeah. That's a hundred parcel IDs. Yeah. Hundred tax bills. Yeah. Do you imagine getting a hundred tax bills in the mail? Right. It's a hundred water bills, a hundred maybe s- inspections. Yeah. City certifications, depending on the city. Yeah. A hundred units is one of that. Yeah. May maybe not one roof, right? You got multiple buildings, but one tax bill, Yeah.
4:48 One water bill, Yeah. One city inspection, Yeah. Right? There's economies of scale, right? Yeah. And not only that, like to buy a hundred houses, that's a hundred mortgages and transactions. Yeah. You got to sign a hundred times. Yeah. Like a hundred units, you're like, well, one, done. So No, I appreciate you sharing that because a lot of people you know, they don't understand that when they haven't done as much. So tell us about the 19-unit. Like what got you excited about that? How long have you owned it now for? A couple months, right? Well, let's say December. I think I closed December. Yeah, so four or five months now. Yeah. So it's definitely different, you know? Yeah. And I'm in a beginning stages of like, okay, this is what I want it to look like in two years, you know?
5:33 So the old owners, they didn't really take good care of it. So like I'm like, yes, I get to go in and really I get to make it how I want it, you know? And so I think that's the stage where I am now, making it, you know, of course like plumbing, electrical, making sure the big stuff is how it's supposed to be, right? And you bought a big deal, you bought 19 units. Yeah. Great. Yeah. Like the number scale on that is huge. Like So your biggest deal before that was four units. Yeah. It's a big jump. Yeah. Were you nervous? Yeah. Yeah, really? You didn't You didn't come across as nervous. I know. I never do, but like my stomach in the morning was like You're like, I You're like, I don't need to go do this today. I don't know if you ever feel that way. When I sign on those mortgages and I look at the down payment, I always joke. I'm like, dude, I could have bought so much stupid crap with what I just put here.
6:23 I'm like, this is like two Ferraris. This is like my dream home. Yeah. You know, And I probably would have if I would never did this, but I'm like, no. Yeah. Well, I appreciate that, too, because people they'll like reach out and they'll be like, how do I get over the fear? I'm like, dude, I feel fear on every deal I bought. Yeah, me, too. You took You took over 19 people's homes. Yeah. You're responsible for 19 people now, you know what I mean? And they cannot pay you, Yeah. But you cannot pay that bank. You know what I mean? You cannot pay the city, Yeah. Right? The tax bill and all that. So how What helped you overcome that fear? I think I'm always thinking long term. So that's the thing about it. Like, okay, you got to think about this long term. Cuz like you said, like if you don't start, then when are you ever going to start?
7:11 Like you just Yeah. So it's like, all right, I got to do this now regardless. Like if I'm scared, if I'm new to it or whatever, like one step forward is a step forward in the right direction. Love that. Love that. You know? Like it's like when I was doing like single family, even when I signed for that thousand-dollar house, my stomach still was because it's like the newness of it. Like what do I got to do here? Like what am I getting myself into? But it's like, I don't know. And think about that hundred thousand house, like you said, it's worth a hundred grand today. Yeah. That's the beautiful thing about real estate is what's expensive today is cheap tomorrow, Yeah. Right? And I love what you said, the longer you wait to start, it's just going to get more and more expensive. Yeah, it is. And we've had people throughout the years like reach out and they're like, hey, I got a hundred grand five years ago. Oh, yeah. And then they reach out five years later and they're like, I still got a hundred grand.
7:57 Dude, that hundred grand's not going as far as it used to. Not. It's not. Right? You know, like I used to Inflation is crazy. Yeah. Five years ago, a hundred grand, you can go get six hundred K deal. Now it's like, dude, those six hundred K deals are trading for a million bucks. You know what I mean? I bought so much product like multifamily at like eighty-three grand a door. Victoria, I swear to God, I was like, I'm overpaying. I'm like, I'm getting raked over the coals here. Yeah. Now everything's like at least a hundred grand a door in those areas. You know, it's crazy with that. So Yeah. Talk a little bit specifically about the 19-unit. Like what did you like about it? Like any specifics where you're like, hey, this is what I really like, this is what I saw. Like you said, there was some deferred maintenance. That would turn away a lot of people away, but I love what you said. You're like, that's how I put my stamp on it. That's how I make it. This is my value add, right?
8:43 Yep. So that and then just the location of it. Of course, it's in Detroit. You know, I'm from Detroit. So all my Mostly all my properties are there. Someone comes in and they're like, oh, this Cali boy. I'm like, I'M FROM DETROIT. I JUST I JUST NEED A little tan in the winter, you know? So like I love investing in Detroit. So like I just love like beautifying things and stuff like that. So I was like, it's a great area. Not too far from where I grew up. Yeah, very cool. And then I just like the layout of the building. You know, when I walked it and things like that, I saw the basement areas. I'm like, ooh, laundry rooms. Yeah. Like, you know? So that's that value add there, you know? So it was just like I kind of knew when I saw it.
9:29 I was like, yeah, I like this one. Yeah, it's great brick exterior, right? Great. I mean, it's got that curb appeal. Yeah. I would say with that small multifamily, I mean, big multifamily, too, but like those small ones, there going to be some really ugly deals, like converted houses or just like you know, like the ones that look real cheap on the outside. That's what I love about like Metro Detroit. Yeah. That beautiful brick Yeah. Exterior, those nice pitched roofs. Like it just it looks good. It's got that curb especially like when you look at it from an aerial view. Yeah, so I think that's super important like a small multifamily deals got to have that curb appeal. Don't get that like cut up like weird is it a house? Is it a multifamily? Like this is like a kitchen now it's a bedroom and there's like a basement that's a unit like no just keep it classic with that.
10:18 You know, a lot of people get turned away cuz they're like Okay, I want value add. I want the gross. I want the appreciation. I want to be able to do the BRRR strategy and cash out refi but wow, there's problems today on this deal. There's maybe not a lot of cash flow today. There's things I got to fix. How did you overcome that because that's the beauty of value add. You're buying something that is either failing today but underperforming today. It's not at its full potential. Cuz if you bought a deal at its full potential, where's the upside? What's the point? Like I would say if you're going to park your money, don't park it in real estate. Like unless you're just seeing massive tax write-offs but you go park it in the stock market or like sorry, edit. Edit. Go park in the in like a high yield savings for 5% you know.
11:08 How did you overcome that or like what was your mindset of like okay, I got to solve the problems to get to the payday. Yeah, so like first going in like you said like you're buying a business right and then the business is kind of raggedy or whatever. So you know, in my mind first year I'm already thinking like I'm not going to have a profit. I'm going to put everything back into it and then that way you know, I can get to the glory quicker. Yeah, 100%. So like you got to be willing to like risk that like all right cuz it's like instant gratification now or like 100%. You know, so like in my mind I'm already like okay, this is what you have to do right and so that's why I decided to diversify because my other portfolio is already cash flowing really good.
11:56 Like it can help with the apartment and if something is you know what I'm saying? So like that's kind of where I'm at with it like I'm in that stage where it's like all right first year we're going to break even pretty much everything's going back in. So That's so powerful you said that. That's very parallel to how we run our portfolio. That's the power of like I always say like hey one apartment deal will change your family's life. If you just buy one deal, I think that's great. Hey real quick before we get back to the episode I want to say thank you to our sponsor today which is just me and I just want to let you know that hey if you're loving this conversation, number one drop it in the comment section. We make this content to help you but if we don't hear from you, we don't know what you like so drop in the comment section. We're going to pick one person off this comment section and we're going to actually give you my multifamily startup bundle sells for 49 bucks online. Pick one comment, we're going to give it to you for free.
12:43 Like, comment, subscribe to the channel if you're new and if you want to learn more about the mentorship program that my student is in who bought this first deal, click the link in the description, fill out the coaching application, we'll see if you're a good fit. Now let's get back to the episode. Yeah. But if you can scale a portfolio, right? The beautiful side of that is if one asset's underperforming, your cash flow from the portfolio can pay for it. Like one of my eight units, I think we never had evictions there and then all of a sudden we had like three evictions. Dude, that deal's not cash flowing when three people aren't paying and it takes like three months to evict in the state of Michigan. But I've got 370 or 369 other units pumping out cash, right? So that's the power of scale and I absolutely agree with that. That's how we view our portfolio.
13:29 And like when I do my cash flow breakdown videos, people are like well that cash flow sucks or like well how do you pay how do you where's your payroll on this? I'm like dude, I don't have payroll on an eight unit. I've got payroll on a 56 unit that allows me to take that manager and maintenance person and have them go manage that eight unit cuz you can't pay a manager on eight units full-time. You know what I mean? You'd be like hey here's 50 bucks go like you know what I mean go do this for me but I'm I love that number one. I love what you said number two. It's like that's what we always preach you. Year one worst case break even. Put all the money back in the deal, right? Take the cash flow, pump it in the asset. Fix up the deferred maintenance. Fix up the problems. Get the rent growth. You do that, then you work towards a large payday. That's why I've always said multifamily is not this overnight massive cash flow game.
14:18 It's a game of tax savings, right? Cost segregation. It's a game of long-term appreciation. It's a game of big paydays. Cash out refi which is tax free or sell the deal 1031. You sell that 19 unit 1031 into a 36 unit. Hello, right? You also are a tax professional you have a tax business, right? Tell us a little bit about that and like talk about the benefits of real estate and tax savings. Yeah. So I've been in the tax industry for 10 years. Yeah and so I've built the company to five locations I franchised out three of them and then the other two I solely you know, they're mine. I take care of them baby them, you know. Is that all Metro Detroit or well Dearborn or St. Clair Shores, there's Detroit, there's Pontiac.
15:04 So they're kind of spaced out pretty well. Yep. So I've been in the tax industry for like 10 years and so it's kind of like a umbrella of different things that I do. So I'm not always like just in the office doing taxes. Like I actually run the business behind the scenes. So other people are more so doing taxes than I am, you know. But as far as like tax benefits and things like that and that's one of the huge reasons why I got into multifamily cuz I'm like I can't do like the other stuff with single family. You know, and just thinking about you know, like my businesses and you know, how much money they make and stuff and just wrapping it up with that real estate and I'm getting these huge tax savings. You know, it's crazy like the amount even like the real estate professional like how you talked about that. You know, and a lot of people don't know about that.
15:52 You know, and that's a big savings too. So there's that, there's the depreciation, the cost segregation, you know, there's a lot open for real estate people. Yeah, so like what Victoria's speaking a little bit about here is like real estate professionals status. A lot of people think it's like a license. It's not. It's just 750 hours active participation in real estate. It's good it's good if you're like let's say like so I'm not full-time in real estate. I have my online business but my wife is. It's really good for husband and wife teams, right? But that allows you to do a cost segregation on a building and I'll let you explain depreciation way better than I can cuz I can't really explain it. But you essentially get like a little write-off for owning real estate every year. Even though your building is going up in value, you get to write off a little bit depreciation.
16:42 Cost segregation allows you to accelerate all of it in the year one, right? And you can take this huge tax write-off in year one and then use it against other sources of income. It's kind of like a cheat code. Yeah. It's like almost feels unfair. You know what I mean? And like the real estate professional like the only thing about that is like you have to like clock those hours. Can you explain it? Yeah. You know, you just can't say like hey, I did like 1,000 hours. Like you have to actually keep track of that, you know. So you have to clock your hours, you know, daily, monthly like keep some sort of tab of that. 100%. As a as a tax professional who I didn't know you had five locations. That's crazy. That eight you know, I was telling you about in St. Clair Shores. Oh really? Okay. As a tax professional do you agree there's really when you look at like the asset classes, right?
17:31 Stocks crypto gold, silver, right? And real estate. Like what other asset class offers the tax benefits that real estate does? Probably none. It's like right? Probably none. Yeah. How do you how do you get tax savings on stocks? You got to lose money. Right? Like Warren Buffett's first rule like don't lose money, you know. Crypto, I don't know. I don't even know what that is, right? I know there's like trust and there's 401k like you know, there's those things but it's like the thing I love about real estate compared to a 401k is 401k you're like getting these tax benefits you know, today but you're just deferring them to 65. You start making those withdrawals, you got to pay tax on it.
18:18 The freaking real estate I get that tax savings today. So like 19 units, say you cost seg it. Did you cost seg it already or not yet? Yeah. Not yet. You cost seg it, you get this say 200k tax write-off. You can use that against your earned income. So it's literally like keeping 200,000 dollars in your pocket. You can't beat that. Yeah, no you can't. Are there other tax are there other tax benefits or things like that with real estate besides just depreciation? Not really. I think those are the two most biggest ones that are going to help. So yeah. But depreciation of course like you said it's over like what 27.5 years or something like that versus the cost segregation it's like instant. 100%. For me I've always been like I want it today. You know what I mean? 27 and a half years dude, I could be dead.
19:04 Yeah you never know what might happen. Like that's where the 401k just never made sense to me. 65 like dude, who gave you this like card that says I will be here at 65. I don't know. So I'd rather keep more money in my pocket today and be able to use that you know, however I want like success love speed. The more we can like invest and multiply money and get if I get 200 grand, I want to turn it into 400 grand. I want to turn that 400 grand into 800 grand all that. What are some top lessons you've learned you probably do a whole five hour thing on this. What are top lessons you've learned about being an entrepreneur just in general that's I guess lessons you've learned but also have helped you be successful with real estate. Oh yeah. Don't overthink it. Like yeah. Like because when you overthink like I've missed out on a lot because I've overthought the process instead of just kind of pulling the trigger.
19:58 It's like, all right, I give myself like 24 hours and then I like Yeah. Yes or no. Yeah. I love that. You know, so that's one of the things like don't wait too long to like jump off the cliff. Like you got to jump anyway. Yeah. No, I love that. Delays kill dreams. Yeah. And time kills all deals. Doesn't matter if it's real estate or anything. I agree. I think action cures anxiety, too. Yeah. Right? It's like you can come over the plan, but then you got to get to work or else you'll never cure that anxiety with it, right? Yeah. With building your business, were there any like adversities or struggles or challenges you had to go through? Or like even building your portfolio? I'm sure it wasn't just like, I bought a $1,000 house and it went perfect, right? Yeah, like there's like you got to expect those mistakes along the way, right? Because like when I came in, like I had to learn about what to look for like when I'm rehabbing and things like that, right?
20:49 Like what does this look like? How much is this supposed to cost? You get what I'm saying? Like you have to learn these things and I think people fail to realize that part, too. Like you got to kind of be hands-on with your stuff or like you'll lose money that way, too, right? Cuz if you just send contractors in there and they do whatever they do and then you go in and you don't know what it's supposed to look like, what's good work, what's bad work, or how much is actually supposed to cost. You can lose that way cuz they can charge you an arm and a leg. 100%. Versus okay, I know how much it cost for toilets to be set. Like I know what countertops are supposed to look like. I know what they cost at Home Depot. Like I know what the material cost. You know, like these things you have to know. 100%. That's why I never understood people who just like go to Schwab and just say, here you go, here's all my money.
21:37 Like sure, you know what I mean? Just like so hands-off with their money and that's where it's like Yeah. Listen, multifamily is not passive income. It's not just sitting on a beach collecting checks, but it's like where focus goes, energy flows and you have to manage your money. Yeah. And it's you're not the one changing the toilets, right? But you got to manage the people doing it. That's how you maximize profit. I love that. You're obviously, too, you're big on like mentorship and investing in yourself. Like can you just speak to that and how that's helped you? Yeah, so like mentorship because I actually do mentorship in my tax business. Like every mentor has a mentor, right? 100%. Yeah. So like I feel like you can't know everything. Like you go to the people that specialize in what they specialize and that's who you learn from. So you go to the best of the best to learn the best, right? And you got to pay the money regardless.
22:23 100%. Investment. You just got to pay the money. 100%. And that's where like, you know, like we really vibed with you. Like you reached out, you know, you took massive action right away. You signed up and then you did You did a deal really quick. Do you feel like when you pay for coaching and you pay for mentorship, it like makes you want to get to the result even faster? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Cuz now you're like, my skin's in the game. Yeah. And then you pay the money. It's like, no, I'm not wasting the money. Like why would I waste money to learn and just not learn? Like that's crazy. I agree. So, you know, and then when you have a mentor that's like telling you like what to do. Like I always tell people like, you know, mentorship for me, when people come under me, like you have to be coachable. Like if I say pull the trigger, this is what you need to do. Like you need to do it. Yeah. So that's a big part of it, too.
23:09 Like listening. So like if you tell me this is what it's supposed to be and you did this and it worked for you, that's what I'm doing. 100%. Well, that's a big thing. It's like I something I learned it long ago like don't try to be smarter than your mentor. Yeah. Like Right. You know, like think for yourself, of course. Don't be like blindly like, okay, like jump off the cliff, right? You know? But you got You got to like ask your questions, which you did. Like everyone does. Like do your due diligence, but then it's like right, you're investing because you've never done this before. They have. So instead of you making all the mistakes that can cost you tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in real estate, it's like you're paying me to follow the blueprint I laid and then you can take it from there. Yeah. I say before you innovate, you got to replicate, right? Replicate success before you go out there on your own.
23:56 I've got a lot of arrows in my back because I went first. And they got me first, you know what I mean? So it's like students behind me don't have to get those arrows in the back, you know? Because it's like almost if you try to reinvent the wheel, it costs more over time versus you just paying that money. Like I don't think people understand that part about it. Finding the winning formula is where all the pain, the adversity, the sleepless nights, and the and the lost money comes from. Once you find the formula, you just want to amplify until it stops working. It's the same thing in any business, right? Whether you're starting a gym, a tax business, a real estate business, right? I've been the same way. I've never wanted to try to figure it all out on my own. Me, neither. What would you say to someone watching this? They're inspired by what you're doing.
24:43 They've maybe started with some fix and flips. Maybe they started with some single family houses. They want to get into multifamily, but they're nervous. They're scared. They feel that pit in the stomach that you mentioned. They haven't pulled the trigger yet. Just what would you say to them? Get your ducks in a row and do it. Love that. Yeah. Yeah. Just do it. Just do it. Just do it. Just do it. Just do it. Get your ducks. Do your due diligence. Yeah. For sure. Get what you need, but then you got to take massive action. Yeah. Write your goals down. Figure out what it is you want, what you plan on doing with it, which way you want to go, and then just do it. Now, the million-dollar question, cuz we always get asked, I need a good tax professional. Can people reach out to you? Okay. So cuz I'm like they're always ask me. They're like, who's your I'm like, my guy is like super closed book, you know? So where should we go if people want to follow more along with you?
25:31 You're I mean you got a great journey. You got a great story. You're doing amazing things. And also learn about your tax business. If you're Because you work with real estate investors, right? Where should we send them? So taxgurusonline.com. And then we have an Instagram page and of course email. So info@taxgurusllc.com. Tax Gurus Online. Hit her up. She's doing amazing things. You're crushing it. How big of a portfolio do you think you're going to build here? I don't know. I was thinking about that and I'm like, maybe I'll stop at 100. Then when I get to 100, it's probably like, nah, I'll just keep going. As long as I can live and I'm able to do these things and I'm moving like I got to think about my daughter and the legacy I got to leave for her. So it's like I just keep going regardless. That. And everyone we talked to with this, all of our students, they say the same thing.
26:16 It's family and legacy, right? Love it. Victoria, appreciate you. Thank you. You just saw me break down a real-life case study example of one of our mentorship students who found a deal. They invested in themselves. They bet on themselves. They joined our mentorship. We helped them find a deal, underwrite a deal, buy a deal, close on a deal, and then most importantly, manage and operate deal because the money is made in the management and operations. You heard how they overcame the fears, the adversities, the nerves, but they took massive action. So now I want to make an invitation to you. Number one, if you enjoyed this video, do my client took time out of their busy schedule to come share their story, drop it in the comment section. What did you think? Did you like it? Did you love it? Did you hate it? Do you think we're just over here making stuff up? Let me know. Put in the comment section. If you're new to the channel, make sure you subscribe to the channel as we're all about teaching you how to get into multifamily.
27:05 Drop us a comment. Hit the Hit the like button. If you want to learn more about this, grab my book, the Small Multifamily BRRRR Method, where I break down everything we talked about today. Sells for 20 bucks on Amazon, but you can get it for absolutely free by clicking the link in the description to get a digital download. If you want to be like my student who you just saw and you want our one-on-one help. You want our support. You want Andrea and I to walk this journey with you every step of the way. Finding the deal, funding the deal, underwriting the deal, closing on the deal, and then most importantly, managing the deal, then I want you to click the link in the description somewhere around this video, apply for our mentorship program. If we feel like you'd be a good fit, we'll reach out and see if you'd be a good fit to join our one-on-one mentorship program. We'll help you buy your first apartment deal because one small multifamily apartment deal will change you and your family's life. Till next time, we'll talk soon.
27:52 Thanks.
Topics: Client Podcasts, 10+ Units, Trading Up, Tax Benefits, Mindset
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