We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jorge Contreras. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jorge below.
Alright, Jorge thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you scale up? What were the strategies, tactics, meaningful moments, twists/turns, obstacles, mistakes along the way? We’d love to hear the backstory the illustrates how you grew the firm
I went from poverty, having to sell drugs at 7 years old, losing my father, and being abandoned by my mother, to being financially independent and creating a million-dollar business as a real estate investor and coach.
One of my earliest memories is when I helped my dad sell drugs. I was very young and didn’t know how bad it was until I grew up. I just felt good helping my dad bring food to our family. I use to live in a tiny apartment in Los Angeles, and my family barely got by, and we had to deal with a lot of break-ins. This was a normal thing for us, I thought this is what life looked like. A few years later, my dad passed away due to alcoholism, and afterward, my mom abandoned me when I was 13 years old. I went to live with my mom’s friend for a while, but at 16, I was back on square one, and I had to start looking out for myself.
During this rough time in my life, I developed one of his biggest drivers: I needed to find a way to provide for myself and survive.
While I was in community college, I started taking Salsa lessons, and after that, I was introduced to Bachata, which eventually became my first business venture. I taught myself how to improve my moves, and I eventually started teaching people how to dance in my friend’s backyard. Due to the success of my classes, I started teaching at a dance studio, where I met my dance partner, Leslie, and together we started the very first Bachata dance company in the United States, the first Bachata dance festival in Los Angeles, and the first Bachata nightclub in the US. My business thrived, as I was making over 200k per year and traveling to 25 countries. But at some point, I realized that I was trading time for money; when I wasn’t dancing, I wasn’t making money.
To provide for my family, I realized I needed to build assets, so I started educating myself in personal development courses and real estate courses, and I became a student at the Rich Dad Company. My real estate journey then began, around 10 years ago, when I purchased my first property. Due to my financial situation, I decided to rent the property to long-term tenants and leverage my income to pay off my debt and acquire other properties.
I then learned that there was a bigger opportunity in short-term rentals, so in 2016 I listed my properties on Airbnb and I went from 6k to 14k from all 4 units in 3 months. Then I learned how to grow my business by subleasing and leveraging other people’s properties. In 2018, my family and I achieved the million-dollar goal, so I decided to start his next venture: a coaching business where I’ve helped over 3000+ people learn my methods and achieve their financial goals with Airbnb.
I had a rough start, but now, I am thriving and am ready to take my business to the next level by spreading my knowledge around to anyone who wants to change their lives and achieve financial time, and location freedom.
Because of the experiences I had at a young age, it is important for me to share my journey with others so they can also see that there is another way out of difficult situations. Because of this, I began to visit middle schools and high schools in my community, to speak to at-risk youth that had also grown up around drugs, gangs, divorced or absent parents, or in a troubled environment, to give them mentorship and guidance. I really enjoy going with the kids and discussing emotional intelligence, personal development, real estate, or entrepreneurship as options to get out of this environment and create a better future for them. It is one of the ways I have dedicated my life to giving back to the community, by making a difference in the lives of at-risk youth.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
When I was in college, I started giving Bachata classes in a friend’s backyard. Due to the success of our classes, I started teaching at a dance studio where I met my dance partner, Leslie, and together we started the very first Bachata dance company in the United States, the first Bachata dance festival in Los Angeles, and the first Bachata nightclub in the US.
My business thrived as I was making over $200k per year and traveling to 25 countries. But at some point, I realized that I was trading my time for money.
Why? Because when I wasn’t dancing, I wasn’t making any cash. So that was when my obsession with passive income started.
I was convinced that to provide for my family without sacrificing my time, I needed to build assets that would sustain us long-term. And this is when my real estate journey began.
First, I started educating myself through personal development programs and real estate courses, until I became a student at the Rich Dad Company.
I can still remember it was around 10 years ago when I purchased my first property. It was scary but liberating at the same time. And due to my financial situation, I decided to rent the property to long-term tenants and leveraged my income to pay off my debt and acquire other properties.
I then learned that there was a more significant opportunity in short-term rentals, so in 2016 I listed my properties on Airbnb, and over time I went from $6k to $14k from all 4 units in just 3 months!
Driven by the success of properties I own, I then went a slightly different route by launching Airbnb listings even WITHOUT owning – and it was through subleasing and leveraging other people’s properties.
I realized that I could help a lot of people gain financial freedom and spend more time with their families just as I did. So, I started a Coaching program for people that also wanted to invest in real estate or start on Airbnb but didn’t know how. I used my social media platform to share a little about my story with my audience and some tips on how to start their own business.
I’ve helped over 3000+ people learn my methods and achieve their financial goals with Airbnb. I’m proud of all of the students I’ve helped and how far they’ve come. It’s really impressive how much my students’ lives have changed since they started putting my methods into practice.
I’m also really proud of how my business is going. For my most recent sublease deal, I negotiated a rental agreement to pay $4,700 per month with the ability to set it up as a short-term rental and paid the same amount for the deposit. I invested 15k in furniture and paid a launching fee of 4k. In total, my investment was: $33,100. The gross rent was 10k (22×454) 73%. $400 for utilities, $1,500 for the cleaning services, and $200 for the MIC. My results were: Net 3,200 per month x 12 = $38,400 and ROI 116%.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
When I was in college, I started giving Bachata classes in a friend’s backyard. Due to the success of our classes, I started teaching at a dance studio where I met my dance partner, Leslie, and together we started the very first Bachata dance company in the United States, the first Bachata dance festival in Los Angeles, and the first Bachata nightclub in the US.
My business thrived as I was making over $200k per year and traveling to 25 countries. But at some point, I realized that I was trading my time for money. I couldn’t spend a lot of time with my family and I was sacrificing a lot of things for work.
I was convinced that in order to provide for my family without sacrificing my time, I needed to build assets that will sustain us long-term. And this is when my real estate journey began. I start studying and learning about this business so I could have more free time and more income.
I think this was the best decision I’ve made because I can still dance Bachata in my free time, I spend more time with my family and I don’t have any financial worries.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
At 5 years young, one of my half-brothers was murdered because of gang affiliations. At 7, I began selling drugs with my father. And by age 10, I started smuggling people across the border with my family. This was how we put food on the table.
And being around gangs, drugs, and alcohol was a standard environment for me growing up. In fact, my father was an alcoholic. And just when I turned 12, he passed away from alcohol. After this, I was abandoned by my mother and I had to go live with some friends of the family.
It was the most challenging experience of my entire life, which fueled me to do better and never look back.
I realized I couldn’t follow my family’s steps and had to do better. So I started looking out for myself and building a better future.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thejorgecontreras.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thejorgecontreras/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thejorgecontreras1
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thejorgecontreras
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/jorgeairbnb
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/JorgeContrerasyoutube
- Other: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-jorge-contreras-show/id1610028629