TAKING "IMMEDIATE ACTION"

I just came back from my trip to California.  I was there for the Armando Montelongo VIP Bus Tour.  It is by far the best Real Estate Investment Seminar that I have ever been to.  Armando Montelongo has taking things to another level and teaches his students from the fundamentals in investing to advance strategies. 

Armando has three keys to success that he teaches his students, "1. Massive Passion 2. Immediate Action and 3. Continuous Education."  What I have come to find is the most difficult of the three is taking Immediate Action.  We all seem to be passionate about becoming successful investors and we continue to educate ourselves.  We tend to lack when it comes to Taking Action.

I have found myself falling back into my old routines and there will be a few days that I'm not searching for properties or making calls.  I have made a declaration now that I will not let a day go by without working on my real estate business .  When I worked on my business daily I seen some major strides happen.  We are working on some big projects now and have made some amazing business partners.

I admitted where I lacked in Taking Action, now it is time for you to evaluate yourself and admit where you have failed in this area.  We should always self evaluate ourselves to make sure we are on track with our goals and that we are making progress.  Are you one of those investors that when someone sends you a deal you take forever to evaluate it?  You see the email and the property looks great but you wait till later to review.  By the time you get to it the property is no longer available.

I honestly believe that some new investors wait to review a property in hopes that it does become unavailable.  I have sent out some great deals to some private investors and they take forever to review and when they do review it they over analyze it.  They are not Taking Action!  As an investor you should be able to recognize a great deal when you see it and you should take Immediate Action as Armando Montelongo teaches.  You can't ever succeed if you continue to let deals pass you by.  Let's Take Action everyday towards our success.  Now is the best time to be investing in real estate.  If you don't Take Action you will be left behind with tons of regret.  To your success!!

real estate investor,

Antonio Macias


www.armandolive.com
www.armandobustour.com















                                                                                   

TIME- THE MOST PRECIOUS COMMODITY

I'm finishing up my packing right now for my first cruise ever.  I'm going on the JILLIAN MICHAELS ULTIMATE WELLNESS CRUISE.  My wife and daughter are big Jillian Michaels fans and do some of her workouts.  I'm a P90X graduate myself. 

I wanted to make sure I posted something before I was out of the country for a few days.  I needed a topic to discuss and I thought of the topic TIME.  I have heard so many times that the most common thing that anyone says on their death bed is that they wish they had more time.  Most of the time their biggest regret is not spending enough time with their family.  You see time is the most precious commodity because we can't buy more time.  Every one has exactly 24hrs in any given day.  It doesn't matter if you are a billionaire you still have 24hrs in a day.

I decided to be a Real Estate Investor not only for the benefits of money but mainly for the benefits of having more time with my family.  You see while you still work your 9 to 5 you do not have time freedom.  I was a slave to my occupation.  I was a Gang Investigator for the Texas Department Of Criminal Justice and I was on call in case of any prison uprising in the entire state of Texas.  I loved the excitement of my job but I hated when I missed out on family events because of it. 

I am blessed with a beautiful loving family.  I knew the only way to have time freedom, was to be my own boss and set my own hours.  I am able to take this cruise with my family because my boss (my wife) said I could.  No, honestly because we chose to.  My wife had to request off from work but I didn't.  It was seldom for me to be able to take vacation without at least 3 months prior notice at my prior job.  Now that I am the boss I just walk to a mirror and tell my boss I am taking off.

My point is, that I encourage all of you who are pursuing your dreams of being a full time investor to keep moving forward.  Don't let obstacles and negativity stop you from one day firing your boss.  Work diligently and never give up.  It is all worth it when you have gained freedom of time.  Time is precious and we never know how long we will be around.  Don't waste another minute watching T.V. or sleeping in late when you could be working on finding properties or negotiating a deal.  You owe it to yourself to set yourself free!!


antonio macias

real estate investor

http://www.jillianmichaels.com/cruise.aspx

Why You Need a Mentor To Succeed In House Flipping

"Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed."
Proverbs 15:22

This proverb is so true when it comes to making decisions for your business. In any worthwhile business endeavor, it's impossible to be successful without seeking counsel and effective mentor ship. Most of us are knowledgeable in a few things, and we're totally ignorant and incapable in millions of other things. The only way to ensure success in the areas in which we lack knowledge and experience it to seek out counsel or mentor ship.

Be very strategic when seeking counsel or mentor ship from someone. Some investors go to family members for counsel on certain investment deals. This is never a good idea. You should never seek advice from someone who is not knowledgeable in your field of business. I would not ask my mother if she thought I should invest in the stock market because she knows nothing of it and most definitely say "no." Yet there are tons of people who have become millionaires by investing in the stock market. You must qualify who you seek counsel from. Never seek advice from a novice investor when dealing with real estate investing. Always seek advice from a qualified mentor or coach.  They can teach you the systems for house flipping.

History shows us, that no one has ever achieved any significant project, worthwhile goal, or impossible dream without seeking outside counsel. If the most successful people in history have needed the help from mentors and partners, why should you think that you can accomplish anything worthwhile without help. Fact is, none of us can. Successful entrepreneurs do not seek counsel simply when their business is in trouble; rather, they seek mentor ship from the very beginning, before they begin any effort. Seeking counsel and mentor ship from the very beginning greatly reduces risk of failure. It also significantly increases one's probability of success.

I spent thousands of dollars on education and having a mentor before I even thought about investing in real estate. Some people see it as a waste of money. They do not see the value of being mentored. A mentor is key to your success as a real estate investor. There are so many ways to make money in this business. There are also so many ways to lose money in this business. I choose to make money and not lose money. Go ahead and try it on your own. You run the risk at losing thousands of dollars while I used my money to educate myself and to learn from the best in the business.

Armando Montelongo and his mentors are the best in the business. I have learned so much from Armando and the mentors that sometimes I feel like my head is going to explode from so much information. Another great thing about having a mentor like Armando is that he will push you to higher levels. Levels that you thought you could never reach. He will definitely keep you highly motivated. Many investors that I have met over the course of two years have quit investing for lack of motivation to stick with it. Having the right mentors keep you accountable and motivate you by their success stories which drive you to succeed.  Make sure to get yourself a mentor.  If you are new to investing in real estate then I definitely recommend you getting signed up with one of Armando Montelongo's mentorship programs.

antonio macias

real estate investor and house flipping machine

Check out the picture of Armando Montelongo with my wife, baby, and me in front of the first house FM Investors flipped in California from out of state.

http://www.armandolive.com/
http://www.armandobustour.com/

The Power of Networking

The Social Network.

How many of you haven't seen The Social Network? If I hadn't been in California on business and a little bored one night I probably wouldn't have seen it by now either. I was really impressed by the movie and how they told the story. I didn't know how facebook got started so it was all new to me. It was amazing to find out that thefacebook was launched from a college dorm room. I'm not here to tell you the movie so I will move on. I definitely recommend it.

I want to discuss the Power of Networking with you. Networking to me is one of the most powerful tools you can have in your Real Estate Investment business. You know the old quote "It's not what you know but who you know that matters." There's definitely some truth to this. The amazing thing about social networks like facebook and twitter is that it allows you to build relationships with people that you would have never met in your lifetime. These relationships are built upon things in common or what type of business you are in or who you know. This is very key when building your business. The great thing about investing in Real Estate is that real estate is everywhere. By networking with other investors across the world I begin to learn global real estate trends. I know what's going on in New York, North Carolina, and California in a matter of minutes. I'm not talking about what the news says. I'm talking about the information I get directly from successful investors in those areas. I have made some key contacts via facebook and twitter and eventually set up business meetings with these contacts.

I talk to lots of people that think using facebook is a waste of time. Unfortunately they are not aware of how beneficial social networks are to a business. Studies show that the average person spends 1 minute on a website that they go to. The average person spends a minimum of 19 minutes a day on facebook. Those are significant numbers. I know some people that take forever to reply to an email but if you send them a message on facebook they reply almost instantly.

I encourage everyone that I know to start implementing Social Networks into their daily business activities. It has paid off significantly for all my businesses. If you are not sure how to use social networks to benefit your business then leave a comment with your questions and I will respond.


antonio macias

real estate investor

Wall Street Money Never Sleeps

I watched the Movie Wall Street Money Never Sleeps because my mentor Armando Montelongo tweeted on Sept. 24th "Any self respecting Shark or Wolf Pack member will watch: Wall Street Money Never Sleeps, this weekend!"

Unfortunately I watched it before I read his tweet on Sept. 27th "My mistake, Wall Street 2 sucks. The original was legendary. I'm inspired to write a great money movie considering my disappointment."

I enjoyed the movie despite Armando's comment. I do agree Wall Street Money Never Sleeps was not that great of a movie compared to the original. Sequels hardly ever are in comparison. One thing I've learned is anytime I watch a movie I am always looking for what I call "Golden Nuggets" These are things that I can implement in my life and business. Wall Street Money Never Sleeps was about Gordon Gekko's return after 8 years in prison for insider trading. Gordon Gekko was a shark when it comes to Wall Street but there was someone else that caught my interest in the movie.

Billionaire Bretton James (actor Josh Brolin) was a backstabbing business man but had some great words of wisdom. He says two Golden Nugget statements in the movie. He says " I think every man should have a mentor and a protege at least one time in their life." I totally agree with this statement. This is why I have Armando Montelongo as my mentor when it comes to Real Estate investing. If you want to be successful in any business you should definitely find someone who is already successful in that business and seek mentorship by that person. You can learn so much from them, especially what not to do. Armando has shared with his students what he did that did not work but most importantly what does work. The wealth of knowledge that you learn from a mentor is priceless.

Another statement made by Bretton James was " If you don't know what you're doing it can be FATAL." This is so true when it comes to Real Estate Investing. That is why it is so key to have a mentor to teach you the odds and ends of the business. To have someone to run deals buy and ask for advice is so important in your success as an investor. I would have never invested out of state if I did not have Armando Montelongo and his amazing mentors show me the proper way to do it. To show me how to manage contractors from afar and be confident in the systems he has created. Without their guidance I would have not known what to do and it would truly have been fatal like Bretton said.

The last Golden Nugget that I learned from Mr. Bretton James in Wall Street Money Never Sleeps was this. Bretton James made millions of dollars by backstabbing his peers and participated in insider trading. These were highly unethical practices. In the end it all caught up to him. When you run your Real Estate Investment business make sure to run it with the utmost integrity. Investing is a people's business. You will ultimately make more money creating win win situations with the people involved. Most importantly you can sleep well at night knowing that you are not only creating wealth but you are contributing to the American Dream of Home ownership for tons of people. You don't want to end up like Mr. Bretton James.

Antonio Macias

Real Estate Investor

THE BEGINNING "First Bus Tour First Flip"

I called up Joe and asked him to go to this Real Estate Investing event that Armando Montelongo from Flip This House San Antonio was going to be at.  Joe was like "Armando who??"  Joe at the time had really no idea who Armando was like some of you didn't either.  Needless to say my buddy Joe made it to the meeting despite the crazy rain that was coming down that night.

We listened to the countless reasons why now was the time to invest in Real Estate from the several mentors speaking at the event.  Honestly I did not have to be convinced I already knew investing in real estate was the best way to build wealth but I just didn't know how.  I could see the look on Joe's face as the information was being layed out.  Joe had already done a flip and ran into a lot of issues in the process. He didn't make as much money as he expected and was already thinking about not investing anymore.  But I could tell he was getting excited about investing once again.

Armando Montelongo started to share his story about coming from living in his in-laws garage in California to being the #1 Flipper In The Nation.  His story was not only inspirational but gave us great hope.  Armando shared how he developed systems to flip houses and he was going to show us these systems if we decided to be mentored by him and his mentors.  When the time came to make the decision I turned to Joe and said "Are you ready to do this?"  as I stood up and headed to the back table to sign up.  Joe was in shock and followed behind me.  Everything seemed to be perfect timing.  My wife and I just paid off all our credit card debt so we just happened to have the credit available to pay for the mentorship program and the Armando Montelongo VIP Bus Tour.  I charged it up with out calling the wife because I knew she just might say no if I asked.

We did it!  Joe and I had no idea what we got ourselves into.  We didn't know where this decision was going to take us but we knew we had to do it.  Everything happened so fast from that point of decision.  We had a mentor come to Houston and taught us so much about investing in real estate and how to run your business.  Then after are mentorship Joe and I took the tour of a lifetime.  We went on the Armando Montelongo VIP Bus Tour.  We went on the very first Bus Tour and there was about 40 people.  Armando taught us how to assess properties and create flipping systems.  He changed our destiny in the course of 3 days.  We had a mind shift that changed absolutely everything. 

We purchased two properties in Southern California.  The very first property Armando Montelongo showed us on the Bus Tour was our first property that we purchased and flipped out of state.  We used everything Armando taught us and put it into action.  We were able to flip two houses all the way in SoCal from Houston TX.  We used the systems that Armando taught us and just as he said we were able to successfully flip houses from another state.  Check out the video and you will see our first California flip.  Our first flip is the light blue house that Armando Montelongo is standing in front of and teaching students how to properly assess properties and write out contractor bids.
Check out the video.

Antonio Macias

Real Estate Investor



www.armandobustour.com
www.armandolive.com