A real estate expert who sold an $11 million home in 10 hours explains how to make your own luck

Josh Altman is a real estate powerhouse.

The star of Bravo's "Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles" and cofounder of real estate firm The Altman Brothers has sold over $1.5 billion in real estate, including the most expensive one-bedroom house in history, which sold for over $20 million.

He also sold an $11 million home to actor Tyler Perry in less than 10 hours, and made a $12 million sale to someone within hours of meeting them in line at Starbucks.

"A lot of people say, 'Well that's just lucky. That's just because you were in the right place at the right time,'" he tells Farnoosh Torabi on an episode of her "So Money" podcast.

It's not just blind luck, he tells Torabi: "The truth is that I go to that same Starbucks every morning for one reason. It's not for the coffee.

"It's because I know the type of clientele that I'm trying to go after, and I know that all the rich people and celebrities in Beverly Hills go there. And so I'm putting myself in a situation where I choose to be lucky - it's not just random luck."

The second half of the equation is jumping on opportunities as they arise - for example, actually talking to the guy in the Starbucks line.

He calls this the "ready-fire-aim" mentality. "You've got to realize when there's an opportunity in front of you and you have to capitalize on that opportunity," he explains.

His $11 million sale to Tyler Perry epitomizes the "ready-aim-fire" mentality. He was at the gym one morning and realized he was working out next to Perry, he tells Torabi: "I go back and forth about whether or not I'm going to talk to him. I'm a little nervous. And I say, 'You know what, I'm just gonna do it.'"

By 10:00 am, Altman is showing Perry his future house. Come 4:00 pm, he has an offer on his house - and at 5:00 pm, he closes a deal for $11 million.

"The majority of people in situations like that will say, 'Ah forget it, I'm not gonna do it,'" Altman tells Torabi.

He recognized the opportunity and found the guts to tap Perry on the shoulder. "I knew what I needed to do," he tells Torabi. "I made sure that he knew what I do and that I'm very good at what I do. You believe in yourself, you trust your gut and don't second-guess yourself, and you do it."

Making your own luck, or choosing to be lucky, doesn't just apply to real estate agents, he emphasizes: "You can do that too, in any business that you're in."