A Vision of Hope

I am a dreamer. I always have been. My parents encouraged me to dream big my whole life long. Dreams take a lot of work, but they offer meaning, satisfaction, purpose, and hope.

As part of my work in REIC and, in particular, my desire to be sharing it with others (which is why I became an IBD, not the other way around), I was encouraged to create a vision for what I wanted to do. What really was my dream or vision in sharing REIC with others.

Since my LDS mission in Costa Rica, I have had a passion within me to participate with and serve the Latino community. I've been home over 10 years and I still think about Costa Rica more days than not. Anyway, to the point.

I realized that I wanted to share REIC with Latinos in this country. I know so many that work like crazy but can never seem to get ahead. It's sad how many seem to rent forever and ever. I can share financial independence and home ownership with these people. I can introduce them to a company that will help them get ahead.

In sharing this vision with some of my close family, one person suggested that I might write out exactly what I imagined a Hispanic family's path might be. This could help me envision what they might have to go through to get there and thus enable me to anticipate needs and better serve. So I did, and I am sharing it below. This story of course represents only one possibility. REIC can benefit people no matter where they are financially, but this seemed to match the type of family I hope to help.

I would love to hear any feedback from you on whatever, be it details that perhaps I missed, logistics I didn't consider, or perhaps the people in the story just don't feel real to you. Positive feedback is also welcome. At any rate, this is how I envision one Latino family's potential path toward financial independence; here is why I want so much to share this:

...in case I need to mention it for legal purposes, this is a fictional story that represents a possibility. No guarantees are implied here. It's my dream for someone's reality, not a promise of one.

Vision For a Hispanic Family Getting Ahead
The following story is about a fictional Latino family and their journey through REIC. It is assumed that they have obtained all needed legal paper work and have no need to fear deportation, loss of property, etc.

The Lopez family immigrated to the United States from Mexico in 2005. Sylvia, the Mother, has had a hard time picking up English in her seven years here. The Father, Juan, has picked it up a little better due to work. He can get around pretty well but he still struggles here and there. They have two children, Michelle who is 4 and Juan Luis who is 1.

Juan works a lot to support his family. He carries one full time job at a factory and a part time job doing janitorial work. They currently rent a small 2/1 condo in Provo. It seems that no matter what they do, they can not get ahead in life. Each time they start building their savings well, something happens that requires them to use it. It seems like an endless cycle of captivity.

One day in August of 2012, Juan saw a flyer about becoming an owner and landlord. The Lopezes have wanted to own their own home for a while, but, as mentioned, things seem to get in the way for them. Juan called me on a Tuesday evening between jobs and we set up a time on Saturday for him to come to my house to learn more. I invited him to bring his entire family.

On Saturday he showed up with his family, though a few minutes late. I presented to him the options available through Strongbrook REIC. I discussed with them right there the idea of purchasing a home with a basement apartment which they could rent out to cover their mortgage. The idea really resonated with them and they wanted to learn more. It was a bit of a blow when they saw the price tags to join REIC. At the moment they had only $2,000 saved up. He thought they could save up the next two thousand by the end of January.

In an effort to not let them lose track of this goal, I then introduced them to the Wealth Club. They felt that would be a good move for them and decided to join. After some work with cashflow counseling and due to the benefits they were getting, they were able to meet their goal of raising the $4,000 by the end of January. On Monday, February 4th, 2013 they purchased the basic, one-property PSA with REIC. They had mixed emotions because they were excited to get in and get started, but it felt a little bit like starting everything all over again. They now had to save up a down payment for a home.

I spoke more with Juan in February and we spoke about the IBD program. I explained that he could get his wealth club benefits for free if he signed up three others in the program. I also shared with him about how the commission structures worked. He caught onto the idea with a passion. By April he had enrolled four families in the wealth club and was receiving his silver plan for free. The commissions from them were also paying his IBD costs. Over the next few months, he enrolled another family about once a month.

It still took a while, but with the help of the IBD program and saving as best they could, they were able to qualify for their first home in another 14 months. It was on Thursday, June 19th, 2014 that they purchased their first home. It had a basement apartment that they were able to rent out by the end of July and the rent from it covered all but $50 of their monthly mortgage! They were no longer paying the $700 / month of rent; instead they paid only $50 for their mortgage! They were finally owners and starting to get ahead!

By now Sylvia was doing better with her English as she had been practicing hard. Michelle was now 6 and in first grade while Juan Luis had just turned 3. In July they also discovered that Sylvia was again pregnant!

Due to their new housing situation, Juan was able to quit his part time job and spend more time with his family. Even with that lost income, they were still immediately able to save $700 per month! In January of 2015 they upgraded their PSA with REIC to enable them to do three more property transactions. In early April of 2015 they had a new baby girl they named Isabela. During this time, Juan was promoted at his work. He had more energy from not working two jobs and his supervisors had noticed his improvement. Thanks to this, even after the expenses of having the baby, they were qualified in September to purchase another home.

In October of 2015 they again bought a home with a basement apartment which they had rented out by the end of the year. In this home, they basement rent covered the entirety of their new mortgage with seven dollars to spare. They were also able to rent out the home they moved from that December. At this point they owned two homes, paid no mortgage costs out of their own pocket, and were earning $663 per month in residual income.

In the spring of 2017, the Lopez family purchased a larger home with 6 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms which they used all for themselves. They again rented out the space they moved from and the income from the four rents covered the mortgage of their new home plus around $50 a month. In the summer of 2017, they sold their first home. With this money they upgraded to the unlimited property PSA agreement and were able to buy a third investment property, paying 20% down.

And thus they are on their way to becoming financially free. They enjoy a better quality of life, better familial relationships, and they are filled with optimism and hope. They are achieving the dreams they sought out by coming to this beautiful country.