Our Story
We’d always liked real estate and the idea of owning property investments. We looked for investments while living in Seattle between 2001 and 2002. At the time, prices were much more affordable than in San Francisco Bay Area where we had lived before.
The landlord of the duplex we rented owned a sausage company, a few rentals, and was a real estate agent. He offered to sell us the duplex we rented from him as he was moving to California. We loved the idea of living on one side and renting out the other side. But when we ran the numbers, we were surprised that the property put no income in our pocket each month. After double checking our numbers, we passed on the opportunity. We began looking for other deals. Nothing we looked at had positive income once we accounted for all costs. We were baffled. Since we couldn’t find anything that made money, we became discouraged. We got caught up with our careers, settled into our first house, eventually started a family, and put real estate investing on the back burner.
From time to time, we’d talk about investing and maybe even consider opportunities here and there. Life was busy, so this moved along at a glacial pace.
We continued running on our personal hamster wheel. In 2008, friends and colleagues started getting laid off due to the Great Recession. Most people we knew were worried about being let go. We wanted out of a lifestyle where we were dependent on others. In 2010, we decided to act. The real estate market continued to decline. However, for us at the time, it was the best real estate market of our lifetimes. Prices had come down, but rents were still relatively strong. We had educated ourselves about real estate for years and felt we were ready. Angel quit her corporate job to dedicate time to acquiring and managing real estate. Imagine the stress of quitting in the middle of a recession! It felt risky, particularly with young children.
We started out by buying single family homes, mostly in Tacoma, WA. As our experience grew, we tried out different locations, property types, and ways of earning income from real estate. We realized that for our situation: a) we needed to be able to scale our investments, b) cashflow* was critical to building a sustainable portfolio, c) real estate met our lifestyle goals. Our strategy has evolved to focus primarily on commercial real estate and small businesses that cashflow. We no longer work for other people. We’ve severed our dependence on being employed by others and do our best to help others along similar journeys if it’s what they want.
*Cashflow is critical to our strategy. We define a property as cashflow positive when rent covers debt service, property taxes, insurance, operating expenses such as property management, repairs, improvements, maintenance reserves, and vacancy – and still puts money in our pocket each month.”
Meet The Founders
Angel started Millan Investments in 2010, starting her family’s venture in real estate investing. She Millan Investments Confidential Page 3 of 8 continues to run the business on a day-to-day basis, including investing strategy execution, deal sourcing and evaluation, financing, due diligence, remodeling, lease up, and ongoing property management. She has flipped residential houses, fixed up REO houses to rent, and managed rental units in and out of Washington state both directly and through property managers. She also deploys capital with commercial real estate partners. Angel has analyzed and participated as a partner in apartment complexes, mobile home parks, adult living facilities, and self-storage investments.
She also mentors friends and family in real estate investing. Angel’s preceding 15+ years of professional experience, hobbies and interests contribute to her real estate capabilities. She has worked in large and small companies, from the commercial insurance division at Safeco/Liberty Mutual, Southwestern Bell Communications, Immunex (now Amgen), to Silicon Valley tech startups and boutique consultancy. Her specialties include product management, research, communications, data modeling, and analytics. She enjoys and continues to learn construction and woodworking. Angel was born in Taiwan and immigrated to the Unites States when she was 8 years old. She earned a B.A. from U.C. Berkeley in Economics and Chinese Language and Literature with a minor in Business Administration. She has an MBA in Marketing and E-commerce from the University of Washington, Seattle. She lives near Seattle with her husband, two daughters, and a pup named Dill.
Wayne co-founded Millan Investments with his spouse in 2010. Until 2022 he had a career in high-tech, both in the San Francisco Bay area and in the Seattle area. His last two employers were Amazon (2016-2022) and Microsoft (2006-2016). Before he left Amazon, Wayne’s last four roles were a blend of software development and learning and development functions. While working in corporate America, Wayne continued to develop his passion for real estate. He has experience in residential, multi-family, adult living facility, private lending, and self-storage transactions. For the last 5+ years he has operated Millan’s funding business for real-estate transactions, with investors in Arizona, Georgia, Texas, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Vermont, and Washington state.
Born in southern California, Wayne earned a B.A. from U.C. Berkeley in Anthropology and Legal Studies, and an MBA in Information Systems and Marketing from the University of Arizona. Although he learned in his 40’s is an avid skier. He lives in Washington state with his wife, two daughters, and a little dog named Dill.
Angel Prentiss
Angel started Millan Investments in 2010, starting her family’s venture in real estate investing. She Millan Investments Confidential Page 3 of 8 continues to run the business on a day-to-day basis, including investing strategy execution, deal sourcing and evaluation, financing, due diligence, remodeling, lease up, and ongoing property management. She has flipped residential houses, fixed up REO houses to rent, and managed rental units in and out of Washington state both directly and through property managers. She also deploys capital with commercial real estate partners. Angel has analyzed and participated as a partner in apartment complexes, mobile home parks, adult living facilities, and self-storage investments.
She also mentors friends and family in real estate investing. Angel’s preceding 15+ years of professional experience, hobbies and interests contribute to her real estate capabilities. She has worked in large and small companies, from the commercial insurance division at Safeco/Liberty Mutual, Southwestern Bell Communications, Immunex (now Amgen), to Silicon Valley tech startups and boutique consultancy. Her specialties include product management, research, communications, data modeling, and analytics. She enjoys and continues to learn construction and woodworking. Angel was born in Taiwan and immigrated to the Unites States when she was 8 years old. She earned a B.A. from U.C. Berkeley in Economics and Chinese Language and Literature with a minor in Business Administration. She has an MBA in Marketing and E-commerce from the University of Washington, Seattle. She lives near Seattle with her husband, two daughters, and a pup named Dill.
Wayne Prentiss
Wayne co-founded Millan Investments with his spouse in 2010. Until 2022 he had a career in high-tech, both in the San Francisco Bay area and in the Seattle area. His last two employers were Amazon (2016-2022) and Microsoft (2006-2016). Before he left Amazon, Wayne’s last four roles were a blend of software development and learning and development functions. While working in corporate America, Wayne continued to develop his passion for real estate. He has experience in residential, multi-family, adult living facility, private lending, and self-storage transactions. For the last 5+ years he has operated Millan’s funding business for real-estate transactions, with investors in Arizona, Georgia, Texas, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Vermont, and Washington state.
Born in southern California, Wayne earned a B.A. from U.C. Berkeley in Anthropology and Legal Studies, and an MBA in Information Systems and Marketing from the University of Arizona. Although he learned in his 40’s is an avid skier. He lives in Washington state with his wife, two daughters, and a little dog named Dill.