Nichole Lewis is an award-winning property investor, generating incredible property deals, known as the queen of property. With a background working within global corporations, an international speaker and mentor, Nichole created Property Quadrants using her tried and tested formula to replace her corporate salary with passive income. Nicole talks to NZ Booklovers.
Tell us a little about Property Quadrants.
The Property Quadrants method helps you move from cash poor to cash rich to own your future. A house is your biggest cost, regardless of whether you own or rent. These big costs lead the majority of people towards being cash poor, which is usually accepted as the norm. What they don’t learn is how property can be your biggest asset and your largest inflow of cash. Property quadrants explain cash poor property and point out mistakes to avoid. The quadrants also explain cash rich property and show you how to use property, even if you have no money, to make active income. That income can then be used to buy your lifestyle ‘toys’ (car, boat, travel) in cash rather than bad debt and to get a deposit to buy cash flow positive rental property to create instant passive income. Then you duplicate that process to buy the next property using cash for the deposit instead of waiting years to save your wages, or for house prices to rise creating equity to leverage.
What inspired you to write this book?
In 2008 I lost the shirt off my back. I went from global high flyer to less than nothing over a few short months. I hit the ground hard! Suddenly, I understood how the majority of people live, hand to mouth, pay check to pay check, although I didn’t have a pay check so I was even worse off than most. Life was stressful and seemed hopeless. I had a young family and I desperately wanted to build a better life. I knew property was the way forward. So I had to pick myself up and make my first million for the second time with no money, no mentor, no networks of people and bad credit. The formulas in my book are how I did it. Starting with active income using no money, because I had none, until I made enough for a deposit on a house to make passive income. If this book helps just one person to build a better lifestyle and they help one person, then my tough lessons can make a massive difference.
What research was involved?
A lot is drawn from my experience both good and bad over 20 years. My mentor worked with me to draw that out. The numbers in the book are all real so those were calculated out and researched back to their source. I spoke to past clients, asked for them to describe their story, the pain and struggle they went through before property and the results and lifestyle they have today thanks to property. We did a lot of research on things such as financial pressure on marriages, family and health and note our sources. The outcome of that research was that financial pressure on families are bigger than we realise. Property can eliminate that financial pressure and the positive effect on families are equally as big when stress is all but gone as our case studies demonstrate.
What was your routine or process when writing this book?
I believe in having a good mentor who is an expert in their field. My mentor guided me through the process so when I sat down to write I was inspired and structured. Each day I set my goal to write 5000 words choosing whichever story or topic I felt motivated by on the day. My mentor would edit each section so that I could improve my writing as I progressed. I am elated with the book, although I wrote it, I could never have done such a brilliant job without Michelle’s guidance every step of the way.
What did you enjoy the most about writing book and what do you hope readers will take away from it?
I felt motivated myself to achieve more in property, putting together years of experience I saw where I had come from and what I have achieved from a different perspective. I used to be ashamed of the fact I was married twice and that I lost millions in the 2008 crash. But I realise those things are not failures but rather lessons that moulded me into who I am today and real life experiences that make me able to relate to so many others because I know first-hand what they are going through when tough times come. If you stay motivated, lean in to others who are where you want to be and take action, you can achieve anything. I want to give my readers not only the inspiration they need to achieve their lifestyle dreams but also the tools and know how to move ahead in property and in life.
What did you do to celebrate finishing this book?
Bought a Tesla. Not really the present for the book, it just coincided. I wrote it over lockdown so we toasted with a nice bottle of champagne and ordered pizza. It was one thing to write the book, I then had a few months of editing, design and formatting. When the actual book arrived via courier it was truly amazing. To see the efforts of my hard work pay off. The best feeling by far has been all of the feedback on how helpful and inspiring the book is from those who have read it.
What is the favourite book you have read so far this year and why?
Grant Cardone’s 10X Mentor. Grant reminds me that it’s the simple things done often that drive us towards success. All you need is determination and willingness to do what it takes in order to achieve what you want in life. He values family, time and giving back just as much as business and bettering himself. Very inspirational with practical principles that are easy to apply.
What’s next on the agenda for you?
I have started doing one on one coaching to help people achieve their property goals faster based on applying the property quadrants forumlas to their current situation. I will write another book at some stage. Naturally I continue in property myself because it’s my passion. This week I set myself a challenge to complete a $1M deal with no money by the end of the year. We’ll track that on our social media and share how I do it.