my story

wow time flies! I haven't blogged since April. So what's been going on with me lately? Where oh where do I begin??

Some background... my mother, Elsie Delane, and sister, Deb Jones, got very excited about realestate investing after attending a seminar last fall. After being assured they would make their investment back in a month my mother bought in. Unfortunately it hasn't got so well.

My mother is 78 and often not in the best of health. She used the last of her small savings to make a down payment on this business and pays $500 a month from her $1600 social security to pay the balance. So she went from barely making ends meet on social security to going under. The financial stress has wrecked her.

My sister's divorce seems to have put her in a bind financially. I don't know the details but obviously things are tight. She was taken with this opportunity and partnered with my mother. At the moment she is stopped out of frustration.

No sooner did they start than they both got very sick. It took my mother about 3 months to recover and my sister got well then sick then well then sick then well. At Christmas they told the family they started a real estate investment business but they were so sick during the winter they did little with it and didn't understand the coaching. They both said they would really get going in the spring when they were well.

One spring day Deb came out of the room and told mom she just learned that their private coaching was over. Over! And they were really just about well enough to start. They were both stunned. They didn't realize there was a time limit for the coaching. Honestly, they were both so sick they didn't learn anything during the time they got coaching.

That was it. My mother gave up. My sister got frustrated because she had little time to really do anything and her partner had given up and was no help.

I watched and listened to all this and offered to help if I could. They both agreed.

I made a copy of Dean's 30-Day book and thought, hey, this is a how-to-do-it manual. So I proposed we have regular meetings and work our way through the book. All agreed.

Now my story...

I am 55. Bankrupt from medical bills. I have a non-stop headache that I live with every day, and have for over 30 years. I can't focus well and so I can't hold good paying jobs. I work 6 or 7 days a week and have 5 part time jobs - if you include real estate. Last year I saved almost $1000. That's a lot for me! In January my car broke down and it cost $1500. I gave them the $1000 it took me a year to save and have been paying $50 a month since. So I'm broke. I actually owe taxes so technically I have no savings and negative income. Wholesaling looks like a lifesaver. But I need to learn to swim to it first.

We got to the end of chapter 1. Unfortunately, life has got in the way a lot for all of us. My mother has all but quit. She feels defeated and that is that. My sister is still frustrated but does a little towards real estate when I nudge her along. I am very busy just trying to make ends meet but do a little towards real estate investing when I can. I have to finish chapter 1 and move on.

I've been stuck. I don't have clarity of thought very often, especially when I talk. So I have a really hard time talking to people. Yes, I talk with people every day but I like it better when I don't talk. I don't have confidence in my words. Yet unless I come out of my shell, I will die in it. And I won't be much help to my mother and sister. So Dean, my next step is to finish chapter 1. I will make the calls and find real estate agents. I believe that if I do my part I can nudge my partners into doing theirs.