The Tony Stephan Show · Episode #018
He Bought An Off Market 10 Unit Apartment After Joining My Coaching Program
Nick works in construction, and his income supports his family while his wife stays home with their kids. He wanted to invest in real estate for about ten years but kept backing out, worried that if a tenant stopped paying he could not cover two mortgages. Construction work ends when the job ends; one year there was no work in Arizona and he had to work in New York.
What changed was watching the equity build when they sold their first home and bought their current one in 2020, and finding Tony on YouTube. He joined the mentorship and closed on his first investment property, an off market 10 unit, within about two months. He never bought single family rentals. Years earlier he nearly bought a 16 unit in Louisville without knowing anything about inspections or due diligence.
Now he and his wife are learning to operate it; she handles the management. There has been more maintenance than they expected, and two units are turning over, but eight others are paying. The rent upside is just under $300 a unit. Tony talks about security coming from within, why nothing in life is passive, and why deals with rent growth come with problems to solve. Nick's advice: invest in yourself and get a mentor for commercial real estate.
Watch the full episode · Watch on YouTube
Key takeaways
- The fear of one tenant not paying is real with one or two units. With 10 units, two vacancies still leave eight paying.
- Security does not come from a job, an employer or a building. It comes from knowing you can figure it out.
- Owning real estate is not passive. Like fitness, marriage and faith, it grows where you put your attention.
- Deals with big rent upside usually come with deferred care. Invest the first year back into the property.
- Kill the monster when it's small: fix maintenance problems early before they become expensive.
- For commercial real estate, a mentor can save you from mistakes you do not know you are making.
Guest: Nick Riley
Nick Riley works in construction in Arizona and is the sole provider for his family; his wife Kaylnn manages their property. After about ten years of wanting to invest, he joined Tony Stephan's mentorship and within about two months closed on his first investment property, an off market 10 unit apartment, which they operate from out of state. Their coaching day is also on the show.
Chapters
- 0:00 Intro
- 1:00 Fear and Hesitation
- 2:50 Why Multifamily
- 5:07 The Mindset Shift
- 9:06 Taking Action
- 10:53 The First Deal
- 14:51 Not Passive
- 17:00 Mentorship
- 21:52 The Rent Upside
- 24:00 Advice
- 25:14 Recap
FAQ
Why did Nick wait so long to invest?
He was the only income for his family and worried that if a tenant stopped paying, he could not cover two mortgages. His construction work also felt uncertain, since every job ends. He says he looked at properties for years and kept backing out.
What finally pushed him to act?
Seeing the equity build when he sold his first home and bought his current one in 2020, watching real estate content and then finding Tony's channel. Once he invested in the mentorship, he wanted to get his money's worth and set a goal to close within the first couple of months, which he did.
Why did Nick skip single family rentals?
He learned from Tony that the worst number in business is one: one tenant stops paying and your income is zero. With 10 units, two units can be turning over while eight still pay.
How much rent upside is there on Nick's 10 unit?
Just under $300 a unit, based on what they discuss. Tony explains that upside usually exists because the property was not cared for at the highest level, so the first year's cash flow should go back into the property.
What would Nick tell other W2 workers who are scared to start?
Invest in yourself and in a mentor, especially for commercial real estate. He has a pension and a 401k and says it would be an okay retirement, but he wants better and wants to take his future into his own hands.
Nick Riley's Off Market 10 Unit: His First Investment
Ten years of almost
Nick has wanted to invest in real estate for about ten years. Since around 2014 or 2015, he and his wife kept looking at houses, and every time he backed out. "Just kept continuously chickened out," he says.
The reason was simple. His wife stays home with their kids, and his income supports the family. What if a tenant did not pay? He could not afford two mortgages. His work in construction added to it: "Every day we're working ourselves out of a job," because every project ends. One year there was no work in Arizona, and he spent a year working in New York.
Tony relates. He grew up with financial scarcity and was told to keep his safe job when he left it at 26 to start a business. What he learned is that security never comes from a job, an employer or even an apartment building. "Security comes from within," he says: knowing that no matter what happens, you will figure it out.
What changed
When Nick and his wife sold their first home and bought their current one in 2020, he saw how much equity had built up. He watched real estate content about building wealth for his kids, not getting rich quick, and then found Tony's channel. Once he invested in the mentorship, he was determined to get his money's worth. His goal was to close within the first couple of months, and he did.
He had nearly bought a 16 unit in Louisville a few years earlier. He had the down payment, but he knew nothing about inspections or due diligence periods. That, he says, is what you pay a mentor for: learning from their mistakes.
Skipping single family
This 10 unit, an off market deal, is Nick's first investment property. Tony, who bought houses, duplexes and fourplexes before his first 7 unit, applauds him for skipping the small stuff. Nick repeats a line he learned from Tony's videos: the worst number in business is one. Right now two units are turning over, and eight other residents are still paying.
Operating is the real work
Nick says the deal is going well, but it has been a lot of learning and some days are just putting out fires. There has been more maintenance than they expected. His wife handles the management and communication, and they work as a team. "You invest, you take care of your property, it'll take care of you," he says. People's homes are in their hands.
Tony uses this to make a point about passive income. "Nothing in my life is passive," he says: not his fitness, his marriage or his faith. Why would his money be different? Who will protect a family's future better than the family?
Where the upside comes from
The rent upside is just under $300 a unit. Tony explains why it exists: usually the property has not been cared for at the highest level, and residents know what others charge. So the plan is to spend the first year putting money back into the property, taking care of residents and fixing deferred maintenance. "Kill the monster when it's small," he says. People want off market deals with massive upside and no problems, and that does not exist. You make money by solving problems.
Advice
Nick's advice to other W2 workers and sole providers: invest in yourself, and for commercial real estate, invest in a mentor. He has a pension and a 401k and says retirement would be okay, but he wants better for his family. "Don't be scared to invest in yourself and just take into your hands your future."
Transcript
0:00 My kind Nick Bond, off-market 10-unit small multifamily apartment deal in our mentorship program. And I'm bringing him on the channel so he can break down the deal, show you the upside, show you the how he's getting $300 in rent growth, show you some of the adversity and challenges that he went through to help you buy your first small multifamily apartment deal in your journey. Nick, what's up, brother? Good to see you again, man. We were just here not too long ago doing your half-day coaching session. You just closed on a 10-unit apartment deal. So do you just tell us a little bit more? How's your deal going, bro? So the deal's going good. It's been a lot of work, right? A lot of learning. A lot of learning in it and that's really good as you get experience and learning and dealing how learning how to you know, operate your deal. Once you once you buy it, then you got to know how to operate it and then it's almost daily we've just been dealing with putting out fires here and there, you know?
0:51 And that's in the end, that's what we are as problem solvers, right? And that's what you need to learn how to be as a as a problem solver. And I think getting over the hurdle of deciding to invest in myself, deciding to invest in a property. I mean, it's been kind of a long time coming. I mean, I've been wanting to invest in real estate for gosh, since I mean, 2000, maybe 5, 6, 7 years now. And just kept continuously chickened out, you know? And we've always been looking at other houses to buy over the years since probably 2000 14, 2015 and just constantly you know, backed out, backed out, backed out and just kept getting kind of just scared of taking that investment and that leap.
1:37 And I think with joining the program and being surrounded by people who are and just helping to build that confidence in yourself to be able to take that, you know, that step to make that investment. I didn't know that, man. So you're very confident guy, but sometimes you're a man of few words. So I would love to hear a little bit more of the story here. So you've been thinking about So did you invest in real estate before this or is this like your first investment property besides like a personal home? This is my first investment property. Got it. So you never did like the single family home stuff. Nope. Good for you, man. Skipping the small stuff. That's what I would say, dude. And we I think we just naturally think it's easier. Right? Did you Did you think that way, too? So. Yeah, but it's you know, there's the more you expand, the less likely you're the more you're likely to be able to make your payment, you know?
2:31 So the more the more if you have a 100-unit and one guy's not paying your rent, then it's no big deal, you call it Tuesday, bro. Yeah. I learned from you. You said it. You know, the worst number in business is one because if one guy quits paying you, then that's zero income coming in. Good for you, man, of like learning, studying, applying, and starting with 10 units. You'll get to 100 units in no time. Had I started, I mean, I did a house, a house, a duplex, a fourplex, then a seven-unit. Another house in there somewhere, probably another I think I had four duplexes, a fourplex, three single family rentals, my old home, the fourplex, and then the seven-unit. Like stupid, dude, you know? I was scared, too. You know what I mean?
3:17 I was scared. I did what was familiar. I did what was comfortable. Even though I knew the more I kept acquiring, I'm like, this I'm like, I have no idea how we're ever going to hit our goals with this. I have no idea how we're going to get to this cash flow goal, to this appreciation goal, to this net worth goal, you know? So just tell me a little bit more about that. You said you've been thinking about it for like 10 years, like in your own words, chickened out. I just because a lot Shout out to you for admitting that, right? A lot of people are watching you right now and they're like, oh man, that's me. You know what I mean? So explain that to me, man. What does that mean? Well, I mean, for me, you know, my wife, we've always been blessed that she could be a stay-at-home mom, you know? And it's just my income. And so I always looked at it like oh, I can get this property, but then it's always, "Well, what if they don't pay?
4:03 What if they don't pay? I can't afford both mortgages, you know?" And that was always in the back of my mind. And my job, I mean, I you know, I do pretty well with it, but I do construction. So every day we're working ourselves out of a job, you know? And so it's not What do you mean by that? Well, I mean, we have work, but construction ends, right? And so it we got to make sure that there's other construction jobs that the company is moving on to. And if there's not, then essentially we're, you know, working ourselves out of a job. And I had to travel in 2000 15, 2014 and 15, we went to New York for a year because there was no work in Arizona. And so I had to go to New York and worked out there for the year. And so that was always kind of in the back of my mind of just being scared of not being able to provide for my family, you know, as a sole provider.
4:53 And then what if you get a rental income and then what if what if they don't pay the rent, you know? And it's like, well, I can't afford to pay both mortgages or whatever, you know? And then in the end, that was what always led me to chickening out. What do you think was the shift? So I totally resonate with that, you know, man? Like I do I grew up on food stamps, you know what I mean? My intro into real estate was when my father sat me down, I was 14 years old, and he's like, "We're filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy." I said, "What's that?" He said, "We're behind on our mortgage so many months, I have to start over, essentially, before we lose this house." I said, "Oh, okay. Got it." So that was real estate for me, like intro. So I've kind of always operated with a bit of the same feeling you have of like I want to make sure I don't have We don't have children yet.
5:45 But like when I have future children, they're never going to go through what I went through. There were years of like, are we going to lose our home? Hey, we're on food stamps. Hey, like my mother struggled with like drug addiction and like mental health issues. So it's like it was just years of like scarcity, man. You know? And I was like, I never want my family to go through that. And when I first quit my job, when I was 26, to go start my business, I remember my dad's like, "Dude, don't do that." He's like, "Do you want to end up how we were?" He's like keep that job. That job is quote safe. You know what I realized, though? Now I'm 35, I was 26 when all that happened, and I've, you know, started multiple businesses, I've bought a lot of real estate, a lot of rental properties. Security comes from within, yeah. You know? It's never going to be a job.
6:31 It's never going to be an employer. Dude, it's never going to be an apartment building. It's an internal thing. And it's us as men and women being like, no matter what happens, I'm going to figure it out. And I am resourceful enough, and I am capable enough, and I've got what it takes to always figure it out. And by going for what I feel called to do, cuz obviously you felt called to do this, right? That's what enables me to then learn, like you said, bro, you're like, "Bro, I bought this deal, it's been a lot of learning lessons." Welcome to it, brother. I mean, bro, I'm learning every day. You know what I mean? I can show you some emails right now and make you want to throw up, right? More doors is more wealth, but it's also more responsibility, dude.
7:19 I have 377 people that depend on me every month for a home. That's a lot. I mean, that's heavy. Like but I remember like 10 feeling like the weight of the world, right? That's where security comes from. And that's the road you're on, just like the road I had to go through and like that's where I'm very excited for you to get to is you're like, "Dude, I'm going for what I want. I'm living life. I'm going to get scars along the way, battle scars." But you know what battle scars are proof of? I'm living life. People with no scars, they're not living, bro. They're so afraid, and they're so like tied up, right? And they're so, "Well, I need my safety from my employer. I need my safety from my 401k." When life happens to them, not if, when life happens to them, they won't know how to recover. They Those are the people who like one bad thing happens, they're on all these, you know, freaking antidepressants, they're freaking suicidal.
8:09 First people like you and I were like, "Dude, we can handle it." You know what I mean? So that's really powerful you shared that. I went through my own journey with that. I believe the more you go on this entrepreneurial journey as a W2 person, these are two totally different worlds. Entrepreneur versus W2. But I really I've never heard anyone say that. I'm like, working myself out of a job. Bro, if you think about any W2 person, that's essentially what it is, right? At a certain point with AI and all this, like everything's being reevaluated. You know, skilled trades never goes away cuz a freaking robot can't go do, you know, what you do. You know, services, things like that. But it's like, no, I really resonate with that. So that's why you're now developing the skill set over here that will always produce safety and security for your family.
8:55 You know what I'm saying? So I love that, dude. I appreciate you sharing that. I think that's a really going to hit home for a lot of people, you know what I mean? Cuz a lot of people know they want to do this, but they're afraid. What do you What do you think pushed you over the edge of like, I'm done thinking? Cuz a lot of people stay trapped there. And you know what they do? They blame. Wasn't the right time. I don't know enough. I don't have It's like they go into the lie of I don't have enough. I don't have enough time, money, energy, resource, whatever. What made Nick stop that and go from thinking to doing? I would say I mean, when we when we sold our first house and bought our current house now in 2020, that the housing market was kind of in a weird bubble, still is, you know, from then.
9:44 And you just see so much equity come from it, you know? And just wealth that's building. And I've always watched different you know, YouTube videos and guys that talk about, you know, real estate and just how to build wealth and it's not like get rich quick, but it's more like something for my kids to pass down. And I think seeing that I just got to the point where I was like, you know what? I need to I need to do something and if I can come up, you know, come up with the money for down payment to get an investment property. And then somehow I stumbled on your YouTube, you know, and I was watching and I'm like, I just really clicked with you and who you were on the channel, you know, and when you're talking and I'm like, okay, you know, I can I can resonate with this.
10:29 And then by the time you invest into, you know, the mentorship, by then I was like, okay, I'm getting something, you know, I just put I just invested in myself, invested into this program here. I'm going to definitely get my money's worth out of it and my goal was to I wanted to try to close on a deal within you know, the first couple months, which is what I technically did, you know, within I think the first one or two months I closed. Yeah. And then because I wanted to be able to use it for now operating the deal, you know, and then like at first you're putting deals in front of us that are off market, but now it's operating, which is a whole different, you know, learning. Which it's been I mean, it's been fun. It's been good and it's But yeah, I think I think in the end that's what just pushed me over with seeing I get tired you get tired of you know, doing your work Yeah.
11:25 Day in and day out, which I mean, this isn't going to get me out of there, but maybe it'll help my kids to you know, someday where they don't have to or maybe I'll be able to retire com- more comfortably as well, you know, for sure. It gives you options. Yeah. It gives you options. And dude, I again, there's a lot of parallels like what you're saying of how I felt. That's why I was super excited to have this conversation here. I know a lot of people are going to resonate. So, I felt my first business. Built a very big business to start, but it I was what's called a key man problem. No me, no business, right? Yeah. And when COVID happened, like my business was in online education for telehealth, mainly registered dieticians, you know, some nurses, things like that. So, they're all stuck at home. So, my business was taking off, but I remember just seeing so many businesses just get schwacked, like shut down, never coming back.
12:16 And I'm like, dude, like if I can't talk, I can't work. Yeah. Right? Like if I can't do this, if I can't do what I do, and then I'm like, what is my wife do? What does my family do, right? So, I resonate with that. Like, dude, that's what we always say. Like, you're like, you make great money. Keep making great money. But build this portfolio slowly, quietly, and correctly. Yeah. And then that gives you options, right? To where that one day will supersede what you're doing over here and then you have a choice. Like, I believe people are like always like, I want financial freedom. I want financial It's like, bro, you live in America. You're free. You know what I mean? Like you're free. Optionality is freedom to me. Choices of like, you know what? After a certain time, I don't want to work here anymore. I just want to work on this.
13:02 And you know what? At a certain point, that's why I love it. It's just you and your wife on this deal. Right? No partners. If you guys go, we want to sell this deal, we sell it. We don't have to go ask the 20 investors, hey, we all need a vote. Everyone vote sell. Oh, one doesn't want to sell, we can't sell. You have you have optionality, you have choices, and you have the freedom of that like sovereignty. You know what I mean? Like to choose for yourself, I think is huge. Why didn't you do the single family stuff? Like what helped you just go straight to multifamily? Like for everyone listening, Nick's the way to do it. Take your time, invest in yourself, study cuz you did like other mentorships and stuff, too. Study, then take massive action and skip the one to four units. Hey, real quick. Before we get back to the episode, I want to say thank you to our sponsor today, which is just me.
13:47 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. Like, comment, subscribe to the channel if you're new. 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 and that's you know, it your videos saying the worst number of businesses one. And that was like if it's vacant, you don't have any income coming in. Right. You know. Which was the fear you had all along. Exactly. You know, and with this, I mean, I would like to work my way up to where if it's 10% vacant, it's not a big deal.
14:35 You know, we got two units right now that we're working on turning over and getting those filled, but we still have income coming in. An eight other people paying. Exactly. You're not you're not sweating. Dude, even thing on a fourplex, you're then 50% occupied. Right. That's I mean, you did a great one on your first one, bro. 10. And that's what's nice with real estate. It's not passive, right? It's a lot of work. You're still working for it, but you have it like we can be wherever we're here, California, Arizona, wherever we are, we have income coming in. I mean, we're still doing the work every day and it's not just, oh, we'll kick back in the recliner and don't have to do nothing. Like it's every day, you know, we're on it. And so You're doing it right. Like you're managing your money. You So, like you earned your money, right? You earned it over here in the day job. You invested it into an asset that's going to multiply it, but you're being active in your own financial journey and your own financial success.
15:26 I never understood people who just drive to JP Morgan, drive to Fidelity, drive to Schwab and they go, here you go. I hope I believe I trust you. Like, what? You know what I mean? Like, who's going to protect your money better than you and your wife? Yeah. Who's going to protect you and your kids' future better than you and your wife? So- some Sue at JP Morgan? Bro, they don't care about you. Yep. You and the bajillion other clients, they get their little 1% fee. You know what I mean? So, like, of course it's work. What gets managed grows, right? And where focus goes, energy flows. I mean, dude, like, you're in shape. Do you have to focus on it? Yeah. I mean, do you have to pay attention to it? Yes. Of course. Like, same thing, right? If I just didn't pay attention to it's not going to work, right?
16:12 So, it's like the same like your marriage, bro. You got to pay attention to it. Right? You got We got to pay attention to our wives, right? Your lovely wife is right over here, right? You don't pay attention to your marriage, that's how you hear it all the time. People say, all of a sudden then she just said, I'm out of here. Yeah. Right? You got to pay attention to everything. I think that's just this fallacy we live in of society, of the Instagram culture of passive income, passive Bro, nothing in my life is passive. I don't have passive fitness. I don't have a passive marriage. I don't have a passive like faith, right? Personal development. All of it's active. Why would your money be any different? I agree 100%. Right? Exactly. You've invested in yourself a lot. You've done like other mentorships and stuff like that. Just talk about just talk about the position of that. Coming from a W2, that's not the typical mindset. A lot of W2 people struggle to invest in themselves.
16:59 Yeah. And it's I don't know who maybe it was my wife who's brought up mentors or may- maybe it was Just give her the credit, dude. Yeah, it might have been her. I don't re- really remember, you know, but it's like and I was always, oh, I don't need a men- I'm pretty awesome, you know, I don't need that. But then you see, you don't know what you don't know. You know, and with doing that, you start to see like, okay, I got I got stuff I can work on. Like, obviously I didn't know nothing about, you know, commercial real estate. I was actually look- I almost bought a place in Kentucky. I think it was a 16-unit in Kentucky, Louisville, and like 2020 2021. But I didn't know nothing about it, you know, and but I was like I had the money for the down payment and I was like, I can buy this place, but I didn't know nothing about the inspections, you know, nothing about any of that is nice with learning from your mistakes, you know, and what your knowledge.
17:57 And that's basically what you're paying for when you do that is for learning from, you know, your mistakes in the end and your knowledge in the field. And so Yeah, I don't know how that would have went, but I'm it might have been all right. Who knows? But yeah, I wouldn't have known nothing about, oh, we got, you know, a 30 days of due diligence, 60 days of you know, and spen- when it was like, don't know any of that. So, I relate to that. Yeah, I it was actually my wife, too, who when I was 26. I was getting ready to like quit my job. And I back then I wanted to open a gym. So, I was a registered dietitian. I was also a personal trainer. My big idea was like, I'm going to open gyms. I'll be the registered dietitian. So, I'll do the nutrition. I'll hire personal trainers. And then like I'll manage I wanted like two gyms, right? And she's like, you got to get like a mentor.
18:45 She's like, you I've worked in gyms my whole life, but she's like, you've never opened a gym, like found a location, built it out, all that. And I heard my mentor, who you'll meet tomorrow, speaking at our event. And exactly like you said, I think you hire a mentor for two reasons. To profit from their mistakes, so you don't have to make it. Because a lot of people are worried about like, well, if I spend this money on mentorship, I have less now to invest. But all the money you're going to lose because of what you don't know, you're saving. Yeah. Right? And money's not our most limited resource. Money's infinite, dude. You can go get it anywhere, right? Like it's not real. Like you like open up your bank account right now and the money in there, bro, that's not real. Go Like who do you bank with? Well, Chase and a credit union back at home.
19:32 Go drive to Chase right now and be like, I need my money. They're in back. They'll be like, we'll drive it back. Hold on. Hold on. They're going to go get someone who's going to go get the manager back. We don't have this. Like it's going to take seven days and you're going to sign some paper. It's like, bro, it's not real. You know what I mean? Time is our most limited resource, right? So, I always want to profit from other people's mistakes so I can get there faster. Number two, to think bigger. I left them the first meeting with my mentor and he said, "Don't open a gym. Go create an online business. Like, let the world be your business, right?" Had I not done that, you and I never met, all this doesn't exist. You know what I mean? So, love that. What would you say two last questions for you. What's been the biggest thing you've learned about management and operations cuz you're an owner, you're an operator. And shout out to my wife, that's her expertise, right?
20:18 And you know, when we were in our afternoon, she was just like pouring into you guys and like you guys were installing everything that you said it took us 6 years to build out, you know what I mean? What was your biggest lesson on management and operations? So far. It's I mean, I'm sure you're learning daily. Like there's been more little more maintenance on, you know, the property than what we were anticipating, but like you always say, you know, you invest, you take care of your property, it'll take care of you. And so, we're trying to get, you know, get it get it the better, you know, and that way we don't have issues long run. And that way not just let it let it run downhill, you know, and fall apart because then it starts to just become a money pit, you know, and if you want to take care of it and show a little pride in what you own and what you take care of.
21:04 And then you got like people's lives are in your hands as they their livelihood, they live there. And so, you want to make sure that's a nice safe environment for them for them to live in, you know, and like my wife, she handles the management side of it and so, she's just awesome with communications and everything on there, but we're a team and we, you know, of course discuss things and we both learn as we go and but Yeah. Yeah, I know. I love that. That's how my wife and I too. I feel like women are better at property management than men are, 100% for it's just like an interesting dynamic. They do really Most property managers are women. Yeah. What I mean? They have more patience than we have, you know what I mean? You got to have patience when you deal with the buildings. Love it. And I mean, dude, you bought an off-market deal, which is always messy, right?
21:52 Everyone wants off market, you can tell them it's a little messy, right? It's not It's not always clean, right? It's off market, no one else sees it, right? And your deal, you got significant rent growth, right? 300 bucks a unit, something like that? Yeah, it's just under 3. Yeah. So 250, 300 bucks a unit. But you got to take care of the units. And you got to take care of the property. See, that's what everyone doesn't understand. Like, I want all this rent growth. Well, usually there's rent growth because they haven't been taking care of it at the highest level that they should, or else these people would all move out cuz they understand they're like, "Dude, your tenants aren't stupid. They go on Zillow and apartments.com every day and they look. Like, dang, everyone else here charging a thousand and we're paying 700? Okay, it makes sense." That's why we teach you to do it the way you do it. Take that first year, bro, invest the money back in the deal. Take care of the tenants.
22:38 Tenants take care of the asset, the asset takes care of you. Fix the deferred maintenance cuz once you fix it's done. We always say, "Kill the monster when it's small. Don't let it linger like bad landlords do. They let the problems linger. You people below market rent, then you have a small problem that becomes a big problem. Take care of it's done. You're cash flowing, your deal is at the higher market rents, you get your cash out refinance. I mean, 10 units with $300 rent growth is significant, but of course that comes with a little bit of baggage along the ways, right? Some tenants who don't understand that they're paying below market rent. Just all these things. I think that's a big thing I see a lot of people struggle with. They want their cake and eat it, too. They're like, "I want massive upside, I want a clean deal, I want no problems." Like, they'll walk in a unit. Like, "There's dirt? There's dirt on the ground? Oh, no, forget it." It's like Dude, like, you know, I want it off market, but I want them They better have all their financials in order, they better have all their receipts.
23:30 They better It's like, "Dude, like, you're looking for something that doesn't exist." So, shout out to you for that and then that's such a great lesson for those listening. You can get off market, you can get massive rent growth, but you're going to have to clean up the problems along the way and deal with the headaches to get to that upside. In business, we make money by solving problems. And the bigger problems you can solve, the more money you make. What would you say to someone listening this who's maybe a W2 worker, sole provider for their family, right? Studying, looking, learning, researching, maybe haven't pulled the trigger, got scared a couple times, and they know they want to do this. What would you say to them knowing what you know now? I mean, I would definitely invest in yourself, you know, invest in yourself, invest in a mentor to help you get there depending what your goal is.
24:15 I mean, if you're just looking to get single family, you know, you could probably do that by yourself, you know, whatever, but definitely commercial. The commercial side of things is a little different and I would recommend that. Don't be scared to invest in yourself and just take into your hands your future, you know, I mean, with through my work, I got I got a pension, I got a 401, you know, and it'd be an okay retirement, but I want better. You know, and so when I can take that into my own hands to provide hopefully something better, you know, in 10, 20, 30 years down the road, who knows, but just you know, that work will pay off and that investment will pay off. Love it. Where can people go if they want to connect with you, follow along with your journey? I don't know if you're going to do the social media. That's okay, but Is there anywhere like where I'm pretty off the map.
25:05 Can you give them your home address so everyone knows? Just kidding. Awesome. Well, dude, thank you so much for your time today, bro. I appreciate it. Well, I appreciate it. Thanks for all your help. 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, dude, 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?
25:51 Let me know, put it 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. 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.
26:37 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. Thanks.
Topics: Client Podcasts, First Deal, 10+ Units, Off Market, W2 Investors, Out of State, Mindset
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