OfflineI told myself that I would start a journal this time around. So here goes...day one.
So, I actually bought my first book over a year, Profit from Real Estate Now, and I loved it. I got excited and decided I was going to go out and do Lease Options. I started working on my Tenant Buyers list and was surprised to see that people actually responded to my ads. The issue was that the tenant buyers that I found wanted more than what they could actually get in order for me to still make a profit.
I then purchased my next book, Your Town, and started reading it only to have life suck me back in and I put investing on the back burner. But I was still getting my emails from Dean, so every now and then I would read them. I cam across one about being Set For Life, and thought "Wow...that's what I really want" No more sacrificing all of my valuable time working for people that did not appreciate my talents. I wanted to determine my own destiny.
So, long story short, I bit. I begged my husband to trust and believe in me enough to spend our last $300 just to get the system started, knowing that it would be difficult for me to maintain the payments, but I believed, as did my husband, that I could do it. All that initial excitement eventually got swallowed up by my life's issues as I continued to make the payments on a program that I wasn't using. I poured myself into my nine-to-five, as if that was really going to get me somewhere.
A couple of weeks ago, I got another email from Dean, and he told me that he was sad for me. I hadn't been using my SFL system and the free period was up and I would need to either make a move or lose access to the system. I decided to make a move for it and this time, I am giving it my all to make this work. I just started watching the training videos and the Gain the Edge 10 videos and I can not believe that I wasted all this time.
Enough of my babbling. I recently sent out the email that Matt Larson provided for Real Estate agents and have done 2 interviews so far. I am testing one out right now and am asking all of the questions, but this agents keeps asking me "why do I need the information?" He obviously has experience working with Investors, which is why I chose him, but he questions everything that I request. "Why do I need an expired MLS listing when investors do that, the sellers end up getting10-15 letters and throwing them all away?" "Why do I want to see a list of cash buyers when there are so many and what do I need that information for?" Do I really need to explain to him why or just ask him to please provide the information? I understand that investors do this all the time, but maybe my letter will be the one that they respond to.
Anyway, I am obviously long winded, but I realized that it would be great to have someone on my side and to put all my daily growing pains down in a journal, so here I am...my first journal entry. I came across Carol Stinson initial entry and realized that the people on here are real. It gave me goose bumps to read her struggle in here first few entries and to read the perseverance on her pages. Her story touched me because I work so hard to keep the bills paid that I don't have enough time for my husband and kids. I work just to eat and life just really isn't what I had hoped it would be. The question that hit me is "What does it mean to you to be 'SET FOR LIFE'?. So I hope to answer that in my next entry, but I am proud of myself for putting my heart back into investing.
Now, I am currently doing my Real Estate Checklist and just filled in my profile and decided to set up my journal. If any one has any advice or a kind word, I would really appreciate it because today is one of those days that I need it.
I've been pretty busy these past few days. I put some ads in the realtor services section of multiple websites. I posted a ghost ad on multiple websites yesterday and got my first hit today. i decided to start with one ad every other day that I post on many different sites to help me see which ads are the most affective until I actually have a deal to post. I've started listening to my Edge 10 DVDs on my hour commute each day an that has me pumped and more determined than ever to be successful at this. I do some investing during my lunch and then carve out an hour each day to get some work done at home.
I have a realtor that I am currently working with, but am about to interview more locally and about an hour away in Charlotte, NC. My goal for this week is to get 3 buyers on my buyers list. My goal is 3 but I am pushing to get 5. I can hear Matt Larson in my ear saying that when he sets a goal he works hard to make sure that it happens...and that has become my new motto.
I wrote down my goals the other day and look at them daily to remind me why my being successful at this is so important.
Today I started writing my list on the yellow pad, like Dean stated in the Edge video. Its interesting to see everything written out like that as it helps me keep track of my tasks. As much as I do, I know that I can always do more. So tonight I am putting out more ads and working on my list of 20 Realtors to call in Charlotte NC tomorrow. I want to focus on 2 locations to start with since I am getting leads from to from my SFL system.
I will be riding through Charlotte this weekend, looking at the city through a different set of eyes...those of an investor. I hope that my core website will be up by then so I can add that information to my flyers. So much to do, so little time to do it, and so I keep plugging away...determined to get it all done and have buyers ringing my phone off the hook.
Its amazing to think of the size of a mustard seed and to know that if you can just have that much faith, anything is achievable.
I just got to work and had to post in my journal. I wok up this morning and immediately checked my emails and got on DG.com. Last night I put out a ton of ads for buyers and emailed investors and I was so excited to see what response I got...none. My goal last week was to get 3 buyers on my buyers list...just 3, yet today I still have none. Then I saw the post from Jon who has been doing this for 1 month and already has a deal in place with buyers on his list and I asked myself "what am I doing wrong?" So I started beating myself up this morning because I feel like I have put all of the time that I have into this and haven't gotten a deal or a buyer on my list yet. I was so disappointed that I was even going to listen to my Gain the Edge DVD on the way to work.
Then something hit me as I was getting into the car. I only had 1 hour left to watch of the DVDs and I would be finished. So I popped DVD #4 into my computer, put my headphones on and started my journey to my 9 to 5. I am so glad that I did. The last speaker was Dean and there was just something about the things that he was saying that really got to me. I realized that I am experiencing information overload. I am reading my books, watching my DVDs researching on dg.com and there is just so much that I want to do and so many techniques that I want to try that I am trying to do them all at once. My post last night was about buying foreclosures with no money and bad credit because I had just seen Joe and Stacey Zurek talk about how they got started.
So today, I am not going to stress over what I don't have and focus on what I have accomplished. I have watched all but the last 15 minutes of the entire Edge 10 series. I have gotten into dg.com and started posting and my journal. I have numerous ads up on Craigslist and other websites for buyers. I have a realtor lined up and have a list of other realtors that I will call. I have driven for house and have a list of for rents and FSBOs that I can call on. I have emailed investors and offered my services. My job even gave me a raise and I just got my first paycheck at this new amount.
You see, I am one of those people that had everything planned out. I went to Carolina (UNC-Chapel Hill) and got that great degree.I got married by a certain age, got divorced and got married again to a man that is great. I have to amazing little girls with a 3rd baby on the way...I'M 14 weeks pregnant. But all I have been focused on is my current struggle instead of my future successes. So today, I am writing out my plan and taking a different route. So I haven't gotten any feedback from my online ads...so now its time to put up my fliers and bandit signs. Its time to let go of my fear of calling people and make it happen.
I'm gonna sneak and watch the private session where Matt talks about what to say when you call a realtor and call as many as I can today during my 30 minute lunch break. I'm gonna call that FSBO.FRBO sign that I saw in my neighborhood, and I'm gonna finish my Edge workbook. I believe the buyers will come and the deals are just waiting on my to find them so now its time to get focused on 1 or 2 techniques and get them done.
Sabrina just read your journal,and I think it's great that you have realized that you should focus on what you do have and not on what you don't. That is the best step in moving forward. Because now you will be focused on what you can add to your future success.
Don't try to gage your success on how long it takes you to get a deal,when others get it done faster. Every area has different opportunities, so sometimes it's just the location your in that makes it take longer. So just keep up the good work and you will see the rewards sneak up on you.
KEEP MOVING FORWARD AND YOU WILL GET TO YOUR DESTINATION SOONER!
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Thanks Jim. I really needed to hear that today. I was listening this morning as people that went to the Edge Event last year were talking about how great and positive the people in the DG community were and I really appreciate your comment.
I WILL keep moving forward because I know that if I keep doing and working towards my goals, I will receive them. I am grateful to have a community of people like you that are already successful, but still take the time to provide feedback and comments to those that are working to get there.