Checklist to Raise Capital (The do's and the don'ts)

I talk to people that raise capital successfully and they follow this checklist I created so could consider it if you want to raise money and do syndications:

1)        Get a viable specific opportunity (ie. commercial property)

2)        Present it in person (to a group or an individual investor)

3)        Present only to qualified and interested people

4)        Have a good PPM at hand (a PPM is a Private Placement Memorandum)

5)        Use words, pictures and numbers in a way that is clear and concise (PPts)

6)        Ask for the money

7)        Ask for referrals

8)        Follow SEC rules (Proper documents- Full disclosures- proper filing etc.)

9)        Perform as promised

10)   Keep good accounting

11)   Keep strong relations with your investors

12)   Be tenacious and keep growing and contributing

When I meet people who want to raise money but never succeed they do precisely the opposite:

1)        They do not have a specific opportunity- so they speak in generality about ideas, and concepts instead of a specific deal and/or project

2)        They present it by email blast, fax broadcast or on the phone (or even webinars! Against SEC rules for private funds)

3)        They present to anyone they run into without qualifying people first (qualifying them financially and their interest level in this type of investing)

4)        They do not want to spend the money on a good PPM to show interested investors something specific to sign at the end of their presentation (Instead they show a Business Plan with some proforma)

5)        They do not know how to present well using PPts and other tools to make it real and exciting for the investors

6)        They are intimidated by money so they do not ask for it to avoid creating a tense moment with the investors

7)        If they get an investor who is committed, they do not ask for referrals (best way to pitch is to ask: “do you know someone that would be interested in…”

8)        They do not follow the SEC rules especially in terms of qualifying potential investors financially and keeping good records as to whom they spoke with and to whom they handed a PPM (if they have one)

9)        They don’t get started to get a performance track (This enhances the credibility factor)

10)   They do not keep good back up receipts and accounting for the fund activities and often expense personal items through their fund (very bad in an equity fund)

11)  They maintain relationships with people that will never invest with them hence they end up frustrated after wasting time and energy

12)  They give up often soon enough and never give themselves the chance to explore their potential in making big deals happen only if they make some small self corrections as stated in this blog.

My ultimate training event is held in Puerto Rico where I coach people through the process of raising capital and deploying it safely, profitably and legally. I get my student/Investors to practice and elevate their game to a level where they can even have a Fund of Funds (I show them how to create a set up under my existing private fund called MIGSIF) so they can start under my wings, so to speak, until they've raised enough capital then they can branch out on their own to the big game.

This is extremely profitable to them, with residual income on capital raised and it has a very low risk and hassle for everyone involved.

I hope to see a select few (limited to 20 attendees) in my next Puerto Rico wealth retreat that are focused, willing and able to grow and contribute to others by impacting their financial future through syndications and commercial real estate investing.

See the promo clip from Youtube regarding PR Wealth Retreat: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vUIEL5_2fs  

Sincerely,

Cherif Medawar

www.CMREI.com  

Success in business is based on principles and formulas

To be able to succeed in business first of all you must align three areas:

1)        What you know about yourself, others and the specific subject matter at hand

2)        How you feel about what you know, about yourself, about others and the subject matter

3)        How you act about that knowledge and feeling in a way that elicits the best reaction and results from others and produces the best outcome with the subject matter.

A simple business conversation or negotiation could turn sour in a split second if you express yourself in the wrong way because you knew or felt that the other person was lying.

A more effective way may be to act as if you believe the person, so as not to expose them and use the information you know to get to know them better and get them to cooperate.

If you cannot control your mind and emotions, you will act against your best interest.

But I see that quite often people have a hard time thinking on the spot when the action is happening. They wish things would slow down so they can sit, think, reflect and analyze their feelings about it. They do not know when and where to draw the hard line and when and what issues to compromise about. 

So how can we train ourselves to think faster, better, with more intensity, about many subjects that come at us in all directions, unpredictably and unmercifully with demands for immediate decisions?

The answer is simple:

1)        Train yourself to observe what is happening and analyze the facts and figures

2)        Then communicate more with the people involved and ask direct questions to evaluate the answers and predict the behavior of those involved

If you have already done your homework and came up with the principles of success in your type of business endeavor then you will know the formulas and proven methods that bring about the desired outcome you want. You will also know the type of people you need to have that can help you get the business venture up and running successfully.

Having workable proven formulas is a crucial element to your survival and prosperity. You cannot be trying to think anew each time you are faced with a challenge.    

Wishing better and faster decisions in your business.

Cherif Medawar

www.CMREI.com

Blog 2 of 2 - The way we think and how it affects us

In Blog 1 in “The way we think and how it affects us” I described how we process information as events occur in our lives. I also explained how based on how we interpret (give meaning) to certain occurrences we make decisions to help us, survive and prosper.

Based on the results of our decisions, we either feel more confident of how we understand the world around us or we feel lost and overwhelmed by our poor analysis and interpretation of future events, and we end up slower and more cautious to a point of paralysis by analysis.

With all what I just described in my previous blog and recapped above, I want you to just imagine how the world seems so overwhelming to a child who barely can define words, let alone understand the concepts of what is happening around him or her to process a few possible impact scenarios and the consequences of each on their weak life that is so dependent on others.

Now think also of almost the same process happening to an elderly or a sick person whose mental faculties have slowed down due to age and/or sickness or have been damaged due to a physical accident or an emotional traumatic incident.

You can also think of anyone who is under a huge amount of stress or any factors that can affect their understanding such as language barrier, fear, stress, hunger, tiredness, exhaustion and so on and you could see how many people have a hard time processing accurately what is happening and deciding in a timely fashion on the best course for action. Hence the emotional outbursts and strange reactions or over-reactions we encounter with others. It is often based on giving the wrong meaning to what is happening.     

Finally think of those who look and behave like normal people. They are under no special kind of undue stress but they actually find it hard to communicate with others because “how we think” is a bit overwhelming to them.

They prefer to interact with machines or innate subjects, where the communication is in form of direct and conscious command: From the basics of activities such as turning on the lights to more complex commands like programming computer software and the like.

The functions require much less human effort and interaction and that’s their comfort zone. It gets overwhelming for them to try to communicate with other human beings where there a lot more to process, understands and there are actual and there is constant interaction and feedback to consider and adjust to.

For instance when we communicate with other human being we must observe their facial expressions, emotional reactions, voice intonations, body language and so on.

This process could be overwhelming for those introverts and the impact is they usually do not do well in life, or in investments.

They fit perfectly however in a large business organization where they place them in a box to do specific functions that evolve in a pace they can keep up with.

Knowing your own natural talent, inclinations and comfort zone will help you focus on developing and nurturing your skills more powerfully. The most important thing is to make a choice to reach for your maximum potential.

Then know others by recognizing their God given talent, so you can place them in positions where they can build and nurture the skills set that is aligned with their natural abilities. But make sure they have made the decision to constantly improve. Otherwise you will waste your time and frustrate your self and others. 

It all starts with the mind and how we think so we can be, do and have what we deserve and are willing to work smart and hard towards.

Wishing you a clearer understanding of life and better living based on self-analysis and the accurate evaluation of the world around you.

Sincerely,

Cherif Medawar

www.CMREI.com

Blog 1 of 2 - The way we think and how it affects us

The process of thinking, one could say, is divided into three time frames: Past- Present and Future.

In the present time when something occurs we pause and answer three specific questions to ourselves in sequence:

1)        What is happening?

2)        What does it mean?

3)        What should I do about it?

Different people give different meanings to the same occurrence. People process the events based on their emotions, past experiences (good or bad) and other influences.

When we think about a past event, we refer to the same set of questions but use a comparable frame of mind:

1) What I thought happened?

2) What did it mean then? (The meaning I gave it)

3) What did I do about it? (Based on my interpretations)

And then we compare it to:

1) What really happened? (Based on new evidence)

2) What was the real meaning? (Based on better understanding)

3) What could we have done better about it?

(In comparison to what I did and the result I got vs what I should’ve gotten if I processed the information more accurately)

The gap between both serves as a way to give us doubt about our abilities to understand and act or serves as a reinforcement that builds confidence on how intelligence and success in choosing the right course of action.

 

When we think about the future or plan for it we also refer to the same questions but we pull on our past experiences to be more effective:

1)        What could or should happen?

2)        What would that mean? (Based on a possible outcomes)

3)        What could I do now to make it happen and/or what should I do to prevent it from happening

The idea however is not only to process the data accurately but to give it the right meaning so as to not have it affect us in the future negatively since we desperately look for meanings in every single thing that happens around us.

With all what I just described above, I want you to just imagine how the world seems so overwhelming to a child who barely can define words, let alone understand the concepts of what is happening around him or her to process a few possible impact scenarios and the consequences of each on their weak life that is so dependent on others.

Now think also of almost the same process happening to an elderly or a sick person whose mental faculties have slowed down due to age and/or sickness or have been damaged due to a physical accident or an emotional incident.

Finally think of those who look and behave like normal people but they actually find it hard to communicate with others because “how we think” is a bit overwhelming to them.

They prefer to interact with machines or innate subjects, where the communication is in form of direct and conscious command: From the basics of activities such as turning on the lights to more complex commands like programming computer software and the like.

The functions require much less human effort and interaction and that’s their comfort zone. It gets overwhelming for them to try to communicate with other human beings where there a lot more to process, understands and there are actual and there is constant interaction and feedback to consider and adjust to.

For instance when we communicate with other human being we must observe their facial expressions, emotional reactions, voice intonations, body language and so on.

This process could be overwhelming for those introverts and the impact is they usually do not do well in life, or in investments.

They fit perfectly however in a large business organization where they place them in a box to do specific functions that evolve in a pace they can keep up with.

Knowing your own natural talent, inclinations and comfort zone will help you focus on developing and nurturing your skills more powerfully. The most important thing is to make a choice to reach for your maximum potential.

Then know others by recognizing their God given talent, so you can place them in positions where they can build and nurture the skills set that is aligned with their natural abilities. But make sure they have made the decision to constantly improve. Otherwise you will waste your time and frustrate your self and others. 

It all starts with the mind and how we think so we can be, do and have what we deserve and are willing to work smart and hard towards.

Wishing you a clearer understanding of life and better living based on self-analysis and the accurate evaluation of the world around you.

Sincerely,

Cherif Medawar

www.CMREI.com

Twelve (12) steps to financial freedom

Twelve (12) steps to financial freedom

1) Education (academic- professional - financial) 

2) Work for a corporation that has a good structure and proven success 

THE JOB (you work for the money)

3) Savings programs: SDIRA or SDRIRA and 401k etc.

4) Build credit (personal and a c corp. in NV)

5) Learn how to avoid taxes (Type of activities, location, entity, activity, Deferral vs. Avoidance)

THE COMPOUNDING EFFECT

6) Get into residential RE flipping (buy- improve - sell) improve property through rehab or expansion or terms such as seller financing and creative ways to get in and get out

THE BUSINESS (you work the money)

7) Get into commercial RE (buy- improve - sell or refinance) improve value through cash flow (Have assets perform for you

THE INVESTMENT (The money works for you through assets that pay you)

8) Get Privacy (LLC - C Corp. and trust entities) - 

Protection (umbrella and life insurance) added debt- 

Plan for Probate (estate Planning involves writing a will and controlling disbursements through a Trust)

PROTECTION

9) Learn securities for added cash flow (stocks- options etc)

GROWTH

10) Set up a business to manage everything from a distance - using a system, automate it, scale it and prepare to sell it

Freedom

11) Give back though training and contributing to good causes

CONTRIBUTION

12) Have faith and always stay free: healthy, wealthy, wise and ethical

SET an Example

Wishing you much success,

Cherif Medawar

www.CMREI.com

A Checklist for business relationships

A checklist for business relationships

In the course of doing business you may create strategic relationships with people that can help you. These relationships vary from associates, to partners to outside counsel and so on.

It is not what we know about these people that counts most, it is rather what we are willing to learn about them on an on going basis.

When it comes to the people you deal with, you must keep your observational skills sharp and your mind alert to see any inconsistencies or incongruent signs between what they think, say, feel and do.

When you are aware of the possible shortcomings in a business relationship, you can plan ahead and strategize wisely. If they are good people, but weak in some areas, you could probably find ways to complement or compensate for each other. But if they are bad at the core, you want to be ahead of the game so you don’t end up entangled in a bad business relationship with an incompetent, disloyal or unethical person.  

It is always best to set the right expectations and clarifications of duties and responsibilities in writing from the beginning so all parties can quickly pass the argument stage and reach agreement so good performance and results could quickly become the norm:

I created a checklist of items be aware of especially in the early stages of a business relationship. They are basic human weaknesses that we must be aware of:

1)        The ego factor: People want to see themselves as successful, respected, influential individuals. They want to see others recognize them for their intelligence, contribution and importance. But some people’s ego is so big, it clouds their decision making. Others are so afraid to appear like fools that they stay quite and distant even in crucial situations that require for them to express themselves.  

2)        The jealousy factor: Are they trying to be like you (stealing your ideas, by passing you, taking credit, planning to compete?) or are they cooperating with you? Do they see their role as adding value or want to take from you and succeed alone.

3)        Conflict of interest: In most business relationships, there could be a conflict of interest as you deal with others in the same field and line of business.

4)        Their state of mind: Are they clear at this time and focused with you on what needs to get done, when and how? Or are they too busy and overwhelmed with their other projects? You can know that by asking them a few simple questions when you see them like: “what’s new?” and stop talking. Or: “What are you working on these days?” and listen carefully not only to what they say but how they feel about it.  If they are excited and happy you will feel the energy, if they are frustrated and upset you will sense the emotional charge.

5)        Their financial condition: You must assess where they are financially as it will affect the way they will charge you, the way they will deal with you, the way they will assess their services and it will even affect their moods towards the results that will ensue. I always say you only truly know someone when your dealings involve money. Especially losses or default or negative cash flow. Some people become unreasonable and unrealistic as well as unfair. Others become enraged. Some people shut down completely and become apathetic. You need to be prepared to deal with them if these issues come up.

6)        Their history/reputation: You need to know if they had similar business relationships with others and how they performed? How long did it last? Did their relationship grow better or has it gone sour? Did they retaliate or work things out or ignore the matter?

7)        Your history with them: If you had any history dealing with them, do not expect them to change much. We often work with people we do not like or do not trust completely but need them due to their special skills or connections etc. so we must set some clear rules in writing, supervise them and stay in control, otherwise the cost will be too much to bear.

8)        The fudge factor: The gap between what people “say” and what people actually “do” could be huge. The exaggeration of some people’s claims about what they have done in the past and can do especially in the beginning of a relationship versus what they truly deliver on could be far apart. I call that the fudge factor.

9)        The flake factor: You must watch out for early signs of incompetence, ignorance and/or unreliability. I call that the flake factor.

10)  Their background: Any legal issues? Any bankruptcies? Any lawsuits? Complaints? Health issues? Unusual beliefs?  Obsessions? Unfinished work, pending matters of vital important to them? Something important that preoccupies the majority of their time? Education? Experience? Past jobs? Family issues etc. Anything that could help you assess how they came to be who they are, their emotional reactions to people, money and projects will help you predict the future outcome of the relationship.

In summary which way do they handle your relationship?

1)        Magnify your success and enhance it?

2)        Nullify you and invalidate your thoughts, emotions and actions?

3)        Try to attack, control and dominate you?

You must pay attention to every signal, sign and clue to predict and protect your business relationships.

Wishing you the best,

Cherif Medawar

www.CMREI.com

BLOG 5 of 5 – Non Performing Notes – STRATEGIZE

STRATEGIZE to profit from Non-Performing Notes:

This is Blog 5 of the FACTS system that I created for Non-Performing Notes. This Blog clarifies the S part to “Strategize to profit”:

If you have performed the due diligence process in a timely manner and bought a list of non-performing mortgage notes from a bank, there are several options you have to be able to profit:

1)        You can foreclose and evict borrower

2)        You can assist the borrower to be able to refinance

3)        You can resell the Note for profit

4)        You can partner up with an attorney that would foreclose and pay you off at a later date when he/she resells it

5)        Do a deed transfer in lieu of foreclosure with the borrower (cash for keys)

6)        You can work with the borrower to list and sell his/her property and accept a short sale that you approve based on the amount you want (remember you are the lender and you bought the note at a discount)

7)        You can modify the loan for the borrower to make payments that are affordable

8)        You can modify then sell a partial (meaning sell a few years of income from the note then it reverts back to you for the rest of the years)

9)        You can create an equity share opportunity with the borrower- where you can have them make lower payments for a few years in exchange of a percentage of equity on the resale)

10)    You can syndicate the loan (sell the loan to a group of investors based on a work out payments you make with the borrower or based on a pay off when you resell the note or the property)

Wishing you the best investing. There is nothing like case studies and actual practice in the investment world.

Contact my office for live training, coaching and mentorship programs in Non-Performing Notes.

Sincerely,

Cherif Medawar

www.CMREI.com