25‑YEAR FORECLOSURE VET 4X'S HIS PAYCHECK WITH NICHE
Steven M. | Southeast Michigan | 25+ Years, 1,200+ Deals
Meet The Investor
Steven M. - SE Michigan
Stephen is not a beginner. He's been in real estate for over two decades, with more than 1,200 deals under his belt and 1,000+ in foreclosure.
But for most of that time, he thought like an agent, not an investor. Which meant he got paid like an agent.
The Problem
Even with all that experience, Stephen's self-imposed ceiling was low:
- He'd spent years doing short sales for 3–5k a pop, grinding for months on files for small commissions.
- When he transitioned into buying / controlling foreclosure deals, he carried the same belief over:
“I'm the guy who does the hard work and gets a small cut.”
- Deep-pocket buyers called the shots, beat him up on value and repairs, and he took "whatever was left."
- On foreclosure assignments, he was often still thinking in terms of a small fee, not his fair share of the full spread.
The result: an elite operator with 25 years of scar tissue… making average money per deal that looked like a decent agent, not a true specialist.
The Turning Point
When Stephen plugged into the Niche Community and coaching, the playbook didn't teach him how to find foreclosures. He already knew that.
What changed was how he valued himself and his deals.
On live calls we challenged his assumptions, specifically:
- Stop acting like a 3% agent inside a high-skill niche.
- Price your assignments based on value delivered, not habit.
- Let buyers bring you their number instead of asking, "How much do you need?" and starting low.
- Aim for $20k+ per deal as a floor, not a fantasy.
The big unlock: realizing he wasn't "worth" 3–5k a deal. He was worth whatever it took to fairly split the $50k–$100k+ value he was creating for both seller and end buyer.
The Results
Financial
Just shifting his belief – and his ask – radically changed his economics:
That HOA-condo deal he described was his first one using the new Niche framing:
Property worth ~$320k with $15k in unpaid HOA dues.
Old Stephen would have structured it so the seller got a bit, buyer got most, and he took a small admin fee.
New Stephen (post-Niche):
- Put $125,000 in the seller's pocket.
- Structured a lease-back at $1,000/mo so she could stay.
- Collected $35,000 for himself on that single deal.
That one deal was almost a 10x of his old "3–5k" mental ceiling.
He's now designing his model around 75 deals / year at $20–25k each instead of 75 deals at $3-5k.
In his words, that one change basically 3–4x'd his average deal. Same man, same market, same skill set, but different belief and price.
Business
He no longer sees himself as "the short-sale / foreclosure guy who gets the scraps."
He now behaves like a deal architect and closer who controls the transaction and commands real fees.
That confidence is what lets him:
- Tell buyers, "You run your numbers and tell me what you'll pay me for this deal,"
- Hold firm on five-figure spreads,
- Still over-deliver to sellers with big checks, saved houses, and clean exits.
How They Got There
Specific changes driven by Niche coaching and community:
- Reframed his worth
We attacked the "I'm only worth 3–5k" belief head-on and reset his target spread per deal.
- Changed the buyer conversation
Stopped letting buyers anchor him low. Started sending solid pictures, videos, and titles and asking them, "What will you pay for this?"
- Protected the seller and the spread
Deals like the HOA condo proved he could give sellers six figures and still justify a $35k check for himself.
- Built a million-dollar model on paper
On coaching calls, we walked through what a $1M/year, 7-person team would look like, and what per-deal profit it required. That made $20–25k per deal feel like a requirement, not a wish.
Final Thoughts
Stephen had the skills long before he met Niche.
What Niche changed was his ceiling:
From: "I'm the guy who works 5 months for 3–5k."
To: "I'm the specialist who can pay a seller 6 figures, solve a nightmare foreclosure, and still earn 20–35k because I'm the one making it all possible."
That belief shift alone has multiplied his income per deal and given him the confidence to finally build the business his experience deserves.
DO YOU WANT MORE SIGNED CONTRACTS, NOT JUST MORE LEADS?
Watch the short case study showing how Niche investors use the Niche Operating System to turn fresh daily distress data into predictable signed contracts and closed deals.