Known as the Queen of Property, Nichole Lewis is an award-winning author of the international best seller Property Quadrants. CEO of The Property Lifestyle, her philosophy is to help people create a better lifestyle through property, hoping that, in turn, they will help others to do the same. Her new book No Money Deals is out now, and Nichole talks to NZ Booklovers.
Can you tell us a little about the new book?
The book shares a number of solutions to the one problem everyone faces at some stage when they want to buy property – how do I get the money? Whether you’re buying your first home or 100th investment, we all get stuck for cash and need to find a way to make more money.
No Money Deals explains how to use property to make the money to buy property. It explores the lives of two young people. One follows the path of working and trying to save while the other follows the path of investing and using property to make money. It gives the real numbers, explains how ‘saving’ is really just delayed spending and what you really need to do to accelerate building up your deposit.
I share my own rags to riches pathway, how I started picking up horse poo and selling it for $2 at the gate, to buying multi-million dollar properties with no money and how the reader can too. All you need is the drive and determination to succeed and you can say goodbye to being stuck for cash.
How difficult was it writing the follow-up to your first book, Property Quadrants, and what did you find different about the process from the first book?
It is a natural follow-on from Property Quadrants, once a person understands the quadrants and which one they are going to buy in, the first thing they need is the money for the deposit.
This book is all about quadrant three (Q3) how to make active income (cash) from property. When I speak at events, I often ask “how long does it take you to save $100K” and most people laugh. Until I say “I’m serious” then they say anytime from 12 months to 12 years based on the size of their salary. In property, you can make $100K in one deal and you can do it without using any of your own money. It’s just a matter of looking at property through a business lens rather than an emotional lens, in other words, get out of Quadrant One and get in to Q3.
I wanted this book to help people. To allow the reader to realise that property is possible for them. There is another way to buy rather than relying on the bank of mum and dad, taking 10 plus years to save or waiting for your existing property to go up in value enough to leverage.
With this book I really dug deep into the process for each success story. How did they keep going when they knew they had no money? How did they make the deal work? What mindset did they have to use. Who did they talk to inspire them instead of pulling them down. What did they learn? What advice do they have in order for you to be successful too? I really believe this book can be lifechanging for anyone who reads it and puts the content to work.
What research was involved?
Most of the content was based on results from clients who read Property Quadrants and sought me out for one-on-one mentoring. The book is full of inspiring results and of course the ‘how to’ of completing the deal. Naturally, my own knowledge is throughout the book, I’ve been full-time in property for 20 years, so I’ve seen the ups and downs. I share mistakes, insights, knowledge as well as the highs and lows.
What was your routine or process when writing this book?
Once again I had the incredible Michelle Stampe as my writing coach so I would have one week to write 5,000 words to submit to her. We would then have a Zoom every Friday where she would give her feedback on the copy, make changes, suggest graphics and make sure the reader is getting everything they need. I would write each morning, using the ‘get it down, then get it right’ principle. Write any chapter that I felt in the mood to do that day and get my thoughts down. Every week I looked forward to my call with Michelle and her valuable feedback. In fact, the whole Park Your Emotion chapter was never in the original outline, but this turned into one of the most crucial parts of completing a no-money deal.
If a soundtrack was made to accompany the new book, name a song or two you would include.
I like Ruins by Ashley Park, it’s not about property of course but that’s how I see it, life’s up and downs and we can find the diamond in the rough.
Also, What Was I Made For by Billie Eilish, although the Barbie Movie song, it’s often how a person may think when we’re stuck for cash and stressed about money or questioning why or what life has in store.
What did you enjoy the most about writing No Money Deals?
Two favourite parts, one (although I didn’t write it) is that both of my children wrote a foreword in the book about what they think of me. I gave them no direction except to make it a paragraph. I loved reading what they had to say about me as their mother and how I’ve shaped their lives.
Definitely the interviews with my mentoring clients to tell their stories. I loved seeing their growth and of course their results. Their stories inspired me to just do it and I pulled of a multi-million dollar deal when I was finishing a chapter inspired by the story. We all wonder if we can do it at times. If you don’t try, you definitely can’t get the deal done, if you do try, you will succeed, even if you don’t know how to take the next step.
What did you do to celebrate finishing this book?
I finished it sitting on the beach in Tahiti, so we went out to celebrate at my favourite restaurant. When the advance copy arrived, it was a very exciting moment, which I shared on social media and popped open a bottle of champagne to toast to helping, hopefully millions, achieve their property dreams.
What is the favourite book you have read so far this year and why?
Dan Sullivan’s 10X is Easier Than 2X because it challenged the way I think. It made me look at how to 10X my lifestyle and how to act in different ways to achieve greater results.
In fact, in my book I have a chapter on Life’s Ups and Downs, which is crucial to how you think about what you can achieve. In Dan Sullivan’s book, he also refers to the same concept, which again caused me to catch myself using the wrong frame of mind in simple day-to-day activities. A simple change can have a massive impact.
What’s next on the agenda for you?
The Property Quadrant series needs a final book, so I’m looking to 10X my property transactions and write a book with those results. I now have two mentoring programmes, Property Partner Programme, which is the one-on-one created from Property Quadrants that shares the results in No Money Deals. Plus newly launched Powerhouse for experienced investors wanting to delve into big property deals (the concept based on me putting Dan Sullivan’s book into practise).
My son is starting to work with me and we’re looking to do more property deals while the market is ripe for Q3, quadrant No Money Deals is based on.