Wholesale NY – I had every excuse not to succeed.

Bankruptcy, lost my home, divorced, bad credit, unemployed, no money, small town and bad hair.

I just collected my first check. This one is for $10,000. Here’s how:

Imagine yourself stuck in the middle of NYC. Imagine also that you not familiar with NYC, you are from “the country” with no clue how to get around the big city. Now imagine that you’ve just been told that you won’t be able to rent the car you need to drive out of the city, to get to the country (approximately a 2 hour drive away). Also imagine that you have only $50 dollars in your pocket. Because it is Sunday, you cannot go to a bank or, have funds transferred to get more money for a car, but; everything is going to be OK – You’re closing on a wholesale deal tomorrow! If you start walking now…

I moved to Florida from NY at about the same time I joined DG, 18 months ago. I left a good job in NY (don’t leave your job) with the intent to focus on real estate investing with my father. We signed up for “The Edge” together. We both studied investing prior to this but, never made a big effort to pursue real estate investing as the vehicle for achieving our financial goals. Florida seemed like the perfect place: Many foreclosures = a lot of inventory = good deals. We decided it was time to make real estate a priority.

For the next 18 months, I spent a lot of time doing things that just didn’t work. I became discouraged and soon my income dried up. I felt like a failure. I read a post where someone expressed how they felt the same way. He explained that his whole family thought that he was a loser. I carried that with me. I hope he finds this post because, he needs to have the message I received from a pastor, on the radio: “You haven’t failed if you’re still trying. The only way you fail is if you quit, otherwise; you’re still trying.” I decided to push forward and make it work. I thought to myself, “I need to look harder. Why don’t I also look at wholesaling, long distance, in upstate NY?” I grew up in a rural, sparsely populated area in upstate NY. Compared to where I am in FL the population is much smaller in that part of NY but, that doesn’t mean it won’t work.

I contacted a good friend in the Hudson Valley, upstate NY. I told him what to look for. I walked him through every step of the way, over the phone. I wouldn’t call it easy but, in less than 1 week I had signed contracts to purchase a home (no deposit). 2 weeks later, I had the contract assigned for $10,000 more. The closing was set for 1 week after that so, I found myself borrowing money, to hop on a plane from FL to NY. This whole process took place in about 30 days from my initial contact with my friend.

The closing took place on a long table, in a large room with many windows on one side and, many wood barristers, filled with hard cover law books, on the other side. I sat at the head of the large table. At the other end, the party for the buyer sat across from the party for the seller. The two parties shuffled papers back and forth, signed and initialed documents, and wrote checks. I looked out the window. After about ½ hour, someone said, “Why don’t we write him a check so he can get out of here?” Someone passed a check across the table. The buyer asked me to let them know whenever I get more properties. I agreed. I smiled, said “thank you” and bounced. (The check didn’t).

Since I didn’t have a car, I walked around for awhile asking myself if that really just happened. I made a few calls to get a ride but, my phone battery died. I walked around for another ½ hour trying to decide what to do. I started walking alongside a parking garage and noticed the seller walking in the garage toward her car. Why not? I asked her for a ride. Awkward but, oh well. She said OK. When I got in the car, she thanked me for helping her. How great is that?

Thinking about it today, all I did was, go through the steps. When I got stuck in NYC, it was scary for me. God bless the MTA. I took a bus – to the subway – to the train – to my destination in upstate NY and, all for only $30 bucks. Getting to the Airport on the way back, I just followed the steps and, it was easy. Train – subway – bus – plane #1 – plane #2 – sunny FL. I had the money to take a limo by then but, it was an easy travel, knowing the steps. Millions of people do it every day. It’s the same with wholesaling. Follow the steps: Buyers list – Bandit signs “I buy houses” – negotiate a deal – get the contract – market to your buyers – assign the contract – get a check. The wholesaling steps may seem scary if you never did it before but, like navigating the mass transit system, it’s easy once you do it.

Because I was able to teach my friend in upstate NY from FL, I am now teaching friends in other parts of NY, CT and FL. I will walk them through, step by step.

The moral of the story: “The only way you fail is if you quit, otherwise; you’re still trying.” Keep going. No excuses. Take one step at a time.