From a $1,800 Loan to $1 Billion in Value: The Story of How Sofia Estrada Castro Built Her Business in Order to Fund Her Real Estate Empire

Real estate Investing is the best vehicle that anyone can take to create true generational wealth for themselves. However, you might hear stories about would-be investors losing vast sums of money in the real estate business. Do not let these stories spoil your hopes and dreams.

While many would-be investors dabble in real estate with the right intentions, only a few of them actually take their time to learn how to invest correctly. These are the investors who end up enjoying the long-term rewards of their investments.

On the other hand, the investors who lose in real estate usually have high hopes and high expectations. They tend to calculate their returns within a defined period (a short to mid-term speculation). These are some of their setbacks.

We can assume that the investors who didn't profit in real estate were probably impatient and decided to sell prematurely. Either that or they invested in property too quickly without doing their homework first. 

Sofia Castro wants to fill this gap by supporting enthusiastic investors throughout their real estate investing journey. 

Popularly dubbed "The Real Estate Investment Queen," Sofia Castro built her business from a $1,800 loan to a company valued at $1 billion as of June 2019 which gave her the cash she needed to build her Real Estate Empire. 

Her goal is to help people build a solid foundation and generational wealth in the multi-family real estate business. 

However, this was no overnight success story, and we can take out some lessons by taking a look back at her journey.

Have a Dream and Vision

She had always been passionate about entrepreneurship. Together with her husband, Bobby, they hopped into the business world as soon as they got married. However, it was not all rosy for them, and passion alone was not enough to sustain them when their first company failed almost before it started. They could not surmount the ups & downs that came with starting up a business of their own. Naturally, they did what any sane human would do.

When All Else Fails, Backtrack

They went back to get regular jobs. Unfortunately, the bills were piling, and the money was not coming in as fast as they expected. Since they still had the entrepreneurial itch, they decided to reassess their options. Their backs were against the wall, and they had limited options. All of their dreams seemed to be fading away. That was when they took decisive action. 

Do Not Die in Silence; Explore Other Options.

When you have limited options, it can turn out to be a blessing in disguise and push you toward a new purpose. This is what Sofia experienced when she found her options to be limited. In agreement with her husband, they decided to buy a leasing brokerage manual that cost $1,800. Since they didn't have this much money in cash, they got a loan from their parents. However, money didn't just start immediately raining from the sky, their strong desire for financial and time freedom drove them to the brink of success that they would never look back from. They were tired of taking orders and relying on other people. Their determination to make things work for themselves and their new born child would not be denied. They learned the most crucial lesson:

Have a Mentor & Build  Relationships 

We cannot overemphasize this point, as any successful entrepreneur will tell you, having a mentor is a crucial step towards obtaining success. Having a person that has already achieved what you are looking to do helps a newbie to navigate through uncharted waters much more quickly and easily. Because Bobby and Sofia understood the importance of building relationships they attracted the right mentor into their life. They leveraged their new found knowledge and relationships to build a successful Leasing Brokerage Business. 

Learn the Ropes and Build Trust

For years, Sofia & Bobby worked side-by-side with their mentor, who taught them the ins and outs of the business. All these years of learning paid off and through their positive mental attitude and proper investment of their non-refundable minutes they were able to build a successful leasing brokerage firm. Once the business began producing enough cash flow needed to cover their personal and business expenses, Sofia quit her day job and focused primarily on building the business. 

From the $1,800 loan, Sofia and Bobby were able to build a company that became valued at $1 billion as of June 2019. Throughout their journey from $1,800 to $1 billion, Sofia and Bobby had always been interested in real estate. Having the end goal in mind from the beginning allowed them to properly stack and rack their money instead of blowing it on things they didn't need. This made achieving their goal of financial freedom through Real Estate a possibility.

Her first venture in real estate was buying condo conversions. This process involved turning apartments into condos and selling them as individual units. After investing $72 million into condo conversions, she learned a valuable lesson about never being over-leveraged. She also learned other critical lessons, such as having your core values in place before investing in any property. Sofia moved on from this mistake and soon discovered the power of multi-family real estate investing. It became the type of real estate investing that made her a multi-millionaire.

Through tenacity and immersing herself in learning, Sofia has built an excellent real estate empire. She overcame learning curves on her real estate journey, and now others can learn from her experiences too. Sofia is committed to helping women build generational wealth through Multi-Family Real Estate Investing.