Wendy's path to RE Success!!!

Hi Wendy,
Thank you for sharing.Keep up the good work.You are on your way to bigger and better things.
All the best
Chuck

Immediately after posting my first journal entry, my girlfriend rang the doorbell. We hadn't talked in months, so I couldn't contain my excitement about sharing all that I'd been learning about RE since we last spoke. This re-ignited her excitement about RE too. And now, she's planning to join me at one of my local RE Club meetings tonight. One of my goals had been to find a RE partner. Not necessarily to create an LLC together, but to have someone in my life that I could discuss RE with. And she's wanting to do the same. As I've begun this RE journey, I've been getting more clear on how & what I've been wanting. And having a partner to talk things out with has been one of those intentions I decided upon months ago.

I was talking to a friend yesterday when she mentioned some friends that are going through a tough situation where they're about to lose their house to foreclosure. So gently, I mentioned that I may be able to help them out. And she perked up with curiosity. I shared with her that I've been learning about RE investing for about a year now and have networked with so many people in the local market. And if I can't personally help them out directly I knew quite a few others that could help and I could hook them up. She looked a bit surprised, but hopeful for this couple that's experiencing financial hardship. Today she sent me an email telling me that she's going to share my contact info with them, so if they want to contact me they can.

But, the best part of this whole story is that I FINALLY felt the confidence to say out loud, that I'm a RE investor. And when the opportunity made itself available, I recognized it, and spoke up. It felt good to speak up and tell someone "I'm a RE investor." For months, I felt I didn't know enough to let anyone know I was a RE investor. But, I've been persevering for 12 months putting in the study time. I've put in a year of networking allowing me to build a powerful database of lots of RE professionals in my area. And recently, I took stock of where I am in my process and recognized I finally feel I know enough and have awesome networking connections, so if I don't know something, I know who to call - which for me equals I finally feel ready to get in the game!

And even though there's much I won't truly learn until I'm in a deal, my confidence level is finally sufficient to get in the game now. And finally, I'm not afraid to learn the rest "on the job". And this feels AWESOME!!! Opening my mouth to declare that I am a RE investor is definitely a reason for celebration!

I spend time this weekend re-watching Dean's LIVECAST videos while studying other RE materials. I've really been pouring through my notes that I've taken in the past from listening to Matt Larson talk about how he negotiates offers to sellers - and how he "creates" a deal. It took me hours to take down all the dictation - because Matt talks so fast. I had to re-wind a ton, but I wanted to capture every word. Not not only did Matt explain WHAT to say, but he included his intentions behind the words. I now have my script in print. I've gone over it and over it. This repetitiveness is my style for learning, so it has been time well spent.

I feel really good about talking to sellers now. And I even have a face to face meeting with a Title company this upcoming week to go over their part in my upcoming transactions (that's my way of planning for my inevitable successful future).

I'm getting my "ducks in a row" and feeling really positive about where I'm at in my process.

Some people are born with the risk tolerance that would allow them to jump out and "go for it" from the start and make their first deal within 30 days. But, that's never been my style - my risk tolerance is on the conservative side. But, I know how to be wildly successful as I've proven to myself throughout my life. And I'm cognitive of HOW I learn best and what my specific strategy for becoming successful is. So for me, the voices I had to overcome in this RE journey have been from well-meaning people that were trying to PUSH me to be like them, and to do it their way. I felt that it became necessary for me to turn a deaf ear to anyone that says "you have to just get out there and make your first deal." Because they don't know me! They don't know that I'm working my plan to become successful, and I have to do it on my terms.

I've never been one to follow the crowd. And I'm aware of how I'm not one of the 80% majority in ANYTHING!!! But, I'd questioned myself for over a year now, feeling bad that I wasn't "out there" making deals and feeling their social pressure. And finally, the idea became clear to me that if I just tune out the well-meaning peanut gallery and tune into the inner me, I would find everything I needed to get onboard with RE investing. And that has meant tuning out my friends at the local RE Clubs and even Dean from time to time. Because I'm convinced that if I follow my strategy of learning that has worked for me over & over, I'll get the result I'm looking for. I don't feel that I'm defying anyone or Dean for that matter, I'm just aligning myself to my internal source of strength -- and it feels right for me.

So, I shut out everyone elses voices about a month ago. And every since then, I am feeling like an unstoppable force. I'm still not telling many people what I'm up to because I'm not giving the outside world a chance to rain on my parade. So, the only people that know I'm pursuing RE are those at my local RE Clubs (of which I attend between 3-6 meetings a month). And at Saturday's meeting, I opened up to one lady and told her the story of my journey. And not only could she relate, but she very enthusiastically celebrated with me for finding my way.

So as I listened to Dean share about the new IE program - which sounded awesome - I felt good that I didn't need that program to get me to where I want to go. I've already purchased awesome materials from Dean and am still digesting what I received. And I agree with Dean, unquestionably his training is the best. And as I listen to him weekly, his unrelenting spirit to find whatever will motivate his students to move forward and take action has kept the pilot light burning while I struggled to find my own motivation. But, I got it now!

So tonight as I wrap up my RE studying for the night, I'm feeling greater confidence and excitement. And this is the first time I've experienced these powerful feelings since starting on this journey toward becoming a RE investor.

I'm hoping someone reads this post, and finds the inspiration within themselves to get in touch with their own source of strength like I have.

Over and out.

Today, I met with a local Title Company. I asked a lot of questions. And the escrow agent gave me solid answers. I will definitely be adding her to my power team. The things I learned helped to soothe my uneasiness about many areas where I felt I could possibly make errors that could potentially cause me to lose the deal. But, she put my mind at rest.

One of the things I learned was that once I submit a signed contract to her, if I've missed something in the contract, she can email all the parties involved to provide any clarification necessary without having to return to the seller to modify the contract and get signatures again. My escrow agent will handle any modifications necessary.

This event adds to my confidence to "pull the trigger" on actively pursing deals.

Keep going Wendy!

I am a newbie here too, like you Wendy, I am gathering and trying to set myself up for success too. I am still studying my How to Profit from RE book. I have made many notes, so far I have been looking at properties, I have made a list of lenders. I wanted to know if anyone can help me with this, do I call the lending agents pre- needing there service to find out what their criteria is for lending out money? Or, should I wait till I need the funding to contact them? I was planning on having several at my disposal for any deals I may want to invest in. Please e-mail me, with any input because I am surfing the sites and may lose my way back here. Thank you

So, I started using an online program that is specific to the North Dallas, TX area that allows me to search for comps on my own. I'm a do-it-yourself kind of gal and like to know how to do it first - before I delegate this to a realtor.

The usual free trial was for 3 days, but when I was asking questions about the program by phone, I was offered 7 free days to get enough time to really give it a test run. Yeah!!! I've now been playing with this tool all afternoon and having fun learning the comp prices in my farming areas as well as the going rate for rentals in my farming area.

Plus, I had a realtor contact ME! I was referred to her by my title company. She's investor friendly. And the fact she's soliciting to do business with me, let's me feel a greater level of control in this potential relationship. She's suggested we do a face-to-face meeting which is my favorite style for building relationships. So, I'll set up an appt for as soon as I can schedule it.

I'm getting ready to spend the weekend on real estate stuff - with the intention of getting my last ducks lined up - so I can feel the confidence to pull the trigger on actively pursuing deals.

I'm on a roll and moving in the right direction!

Thanks for the encouragement... I finally have the FEELING of an awesome real estate future. It's so exiting.

But, it's not the kind of excitement I had when I first got involved with Dean that was the "off the charts" kind of excitement. It's more of a steady excitement that no longer vacillates up & down. Instead, the feeling has grown slowly, so slowly, that is was almost imperceptible until recently. Only recently, as my awareness that what I've been learning is starting to come together for me, I started to realize "I can do this." And once I had that awareness, I began to focus more on how this is doable for me... the more the confidence & excitement has grown. It's been a slow roll, but I've been very persistent to not quit. I've hit road blocks (both personal & in the RE studying), but consistently worked on figuring out how to get through it. If I couldn't figure out anything else to do, I just kept going to local RE Clubs, learning & networking. And now, a year later, I look at the database that I've created through all my networking at these local clubs and realized I have so many resources, including at least 30 solid cash buyers plus another 50 RE investors/wholesalers that I can partner with by sharing their cash buyers with me!

I'm amazed at how much I've accomplished in this past year without even realizing it. I just kept networking and logging in all their info in my spreadsheet, even though I didn't even know what to do with it. But, my brain has begun to make the connection of how to utilize these resources that I've collected!

I'm so glad I kept networking even when I hadn't a clue how to use this spreadsheet -- because now that my studying has produced a soon-to-be graduate of my initial RE education, I have a full database of resources to pull from.

The folks at the Title Company referred a Realtor to me. So, I met with her today. We set expectations, and she's totally onboard with helping me with my objectives. For every question I asked her, she was so generous in her response that she taught me a lot. Her educate me as we go, is the exact style I was seeking.

I'd only been home a couple of hours, and she's already sent me MLS listings based on my criteria. Now, I'm reviewing the properties.

This is it... I've really begun! Much celebration in my heart!

I've been evaluating properties that my RE Agent sent me. And I found 2 that looked like they might be deals. I was using my "free trail offer" comp program, but wanted validation that the criteria I'm using is similar to how my Real Estate Agent pulls comps, so I called her. Through our conversation, she helped to refine my criteria, but overall, I was on the right track.

Next, I still felt a bit shaky about whether these were really deals or not, and felt I needed to "phone a friend". So, I looked through my spreadsheet of all the RE people I've met at various RE Clubs, and called 3 that I felt most comfortable with. Each one was very willing to talk and share what they knew. I told them about the 2 deals I was evaluating, and was interested in their thoughts about the particulars. And with each call, I got a little bit in insight as to how "they" evaluate deals. And that was the kind of insight that I considered priceless. I felt these little nuances that they tossed into the conversation were exactly what I was looking for.

The third call was to one of my cash buyers who likes to buy, fix & hold. We had a very lengthy conversation. He provided excellent coaching as he was wanting to be certain I wouldn't get myself into trouble. It was interesting, that when I called him and left a VM, I felt very intimidated by his experience and sounded a bit shaky in the message. However, during our chat, I started to notice how confident I was feeling. And the longer we talked, the more comfortable I had become. And before we ended the call, he was suggesting that we work on finding deals that we could buy & hold together!!!

I was amazed. I talked the talk, and an experienced investor thought enough of me that he's interested in making money together. What an incredible high!!!

Birthdays naturally are a time of reflection for me. And I remember back just one year to where I was regarding real estate investing. And I remember being at the beginning. I remember feeling so unsure. I remember wondering if this was another one of those things that I "hoped" would work, but would fall away after awhile. And I remember a lot of uncertainty.

But, one year later, I feel hopeful. I feel confident. I feel so different about real estate than I did back then. I feel so grateful that I persevered through the uncertainty. I make no apology for the time it has taken to get me to where I am. That has been my journey. And my journey has lead me to where I am now.

Now, I'm analyzing properties. I have a ton of questions, but these are very different questions than I had before. These are specific questions about specific potential deals. The questions have gone from theory to pay dirt as I sniff out the "deals" from the "non-deals".

I now have so many resources to get those questions answered. Now, I pick up the phone and ask a RE expert how to help me navigate through my quandaries. Some give me the clarity to help me understand. And some don't; in which case, I just call someone else.

Now, this is the biggest "ah ha" moment. It came yesterday. I had been waiting for a guy I know that works with multi-family to call me back. He agreed to help me analyze a potential 4-plex property. But, we've been playing email tag for over a week. So, I spent a week being frustrated. I feel the time is ticking on this 4-plex. And I got "stuck" in the feeling that I needed him to talk me through it. I even reached out to a someone new, hoping she would be able to provide the guidance I needed.

Then, the "ah ha" came... just let it go. Let go of the frustration. And remind myself of how it will all work out one way or another. And with that, I felt so much more at peace. And once the peaceful feeling landed, the thought occurred to me, call Dean's Hotline! OMG, because I had been so hung up on "not getting" what I needed from the Hotline in the past, I hadn't considered calling them for help.

But, I know I'm in very different mind-space from where I was back then. And since I paid for the Academy, these folks are there to assist me. And if the first person I talk to doesn't provide the clarity I need to understand, I'll just call right back and talk to someone else. I know someone can answer my questions. The "ah ha" in case you missed it was that I had the Dean team available to me all along, but I'd blocked it out due to previous programming of negative experiences.

I had the "ah ha" 2 hours after the Hotline closed on Saturday... so on Monday I will call with my questions. And I'm convinced that who I am today with a much better mindset, will be able to ask the questions clearly, and I will be able to clearly receive the answers. So, by the time I hang up, I will have greater clarity, and know how to proceed!

Happy Birthday to me. It's shaping up to be an awesome new year!

Sounds like you are on your way to success. It takes a while to build up your confidence, doesn't it!? I feel the same way as you...the more we do, the more we progress and the confidence just keeps growing...

Have a great birthday today!
-Teresa, College Station, TX

I am loving your journal ~ Thank you for sharing your experiences! I felt the same way about real estate, when I first got into it. To have a realtor call you up just like that outta the blue, because of your interview with the title company is awesome! It's always great to have someone hunt you down like that, and NOT the other way around. Or, that's at least how I like to look at it. Happy Birthday! Keep up the great work, Wendy!