Posted by Carl CA on November 02, 2004 at 09:22:17:
JT-IN,
As I was reading your response to Stew, it occurred to me how true
your analysis was of why folks end up in REI full-time. My situation
was identical, and gave me a smile when I read your analysis.
I feel I was “pushed” into REI full-time as a result of how much my
former vocation was costing me - high stress, heavy time commitment,
strains on my marriage and the relationship with my kids. “Pushed” in,
rather than “pulled” in by the lure of a terrific income. I knew at the
time I made the jump, it really wasn’t a decision any more - I HAD to
do it. I also knew from my limited participation on this board at the
time, and observing your success and that of the more experienced
investors here, that I could make it work.
You’re a very observant guy JT. Thanks for your participation. You’ve
made things a little clearer for me.
After writing my previous Journal, which was about 3 weeks ago, I went out and started looking for properties. Again, I didn’t do much for fear of being too successful. I basically talked to a few investors, sent out about 100 letters to owners of ugly properties, and sent out about 50 letters to pre-foreclosures.
Of the 100 letters that I sent out, I got about 6 replies. 4 of which told me they’re not interested in selling. The other 2 I’m still working on. Not sure if they will bear any fruit though.
Of the 50 or so letters to Pre-foreclosures, I got 4 replies. 2 I already submitted my offers and currently waiting for their responses. The other 2 were motivated but unreasonable owners so I was not able to help them.
Of all the investors I talked to, one gave me a deal, which I signed up and also recorded the deed just today. This is a sub-2 deal and I also had to pay a hefty amount of money to this investor for the assignment (9k). However, I may be able to make about 30k out of this thing within the next couple of months or so. Wish me luck on this one cuz I’m still kinda nervous. I’ll let you know the status of this deal. Right now I’m trying to clean this property up and put in a fresh coat of paint. Hopefully I’ll find a buyer soon.
Time spent working on RE related activies: still not a lot (actually less now cuz I asked my friend to do the marketing for me i.e. sending out letters)
Time spent doing really pointless stuffs: at least 50 hours per week, if not more.
“Again, I didn’t do much for fear of being too successful”
Some may chuckle at this statement, but it is very true for many investors, and is what holds back many potential investors… Investing is largely a “head game” with one’s self, and the sooner that it is realized, the closer you are to the solution.
Ryan… thanks for the honesty of your post and fear about success, not failure. Suggestion to you… Figure out how much money you will allow yourself to make next year… (within your comfort zone)… and when you have determined that number, give yourself permission to make that amount in January, or January and February, and then take the rest of the year off.
Surely if you are able to put deals together as it sounds, you could do as well as you will allow yourself to do in this business. Thanks for the post and the entertainment to many here on cre…
I live in Seattle, WA. It’s fiercely competitive up here. I worked hard on my messages and maybe that’s why it’s working? Of course the deals haven’t panned out so don’t compliment me just yet.
Re: Honest and profound words spoken… - Posted by Stew(NE)
Posted by Stew(NE) on November 01, 2004 at 21:58:37:
You are a wise man JT. I thought I had the “fear of failure” thing licked. But when it came time to quit the J.O.B and step out on faith. I couldn’t do it. I mean I am in a position that many would envy. My military retirement covers my House payment. My youngest is 18 (Dec 9). I have done rehabs, rentals, bought at foreclosure sales, posted a success story. I have gotten my daughter through college. (She works on a Psych ward and is on here own financially.) What am I waiting for? In college, I worked in a small upcoming video business for my Master’s thesis, for free so I could work with the owners and understand what it takes to run a business. (The Video business now has grown to 4 states). Oh well, I am responsible for my future good or bad.
Let me define my opinion on success, specifically “your success”.
Stew is successful because…
You have reaised and educated two children, instilling good values, and placing productive citizens into society.
Your Son of 17.9 yrs still cares about Dad, and wants him to go out and run with him.
You possessed the knowledge, understanding and desire early on, to associtate yourself with successful prople in a business environment for the sake of what lessons you could/would learn… as opposed to what monetary gain you may have been able to realize. (This is the best type of investment, investment in knowledge).
You have dedicated yourself to becoming a RE investment professional, consumed far more with the best way to go about this profession, as opposed to the fast track to a buck.
Possessing the ambition to continually seek financial independence.
With what the above list speaks of you, as well as my knowledge that I have gain of you over the past 3 or 4 years on creonline, I’m sure that there are many more items that could be added to this short list… of definition of why you are successful.
You note that I do not include on the list whether or not you are a full time RE investor or not. The decision to go full time is a personal one and each to his own as to when that decision should be made. My advice to many here over the past number of years has evolved around one theme.
Don’t do it… Don’t make the leap to become a full time investor for the sake of becoming a full time investor. Many are motivated to “escape the rat-race… or pressure”, of a JOB. Success is bestowed on those who can surpress the emotion to leap too soon. There is no fault to one who waits too long… Afterall, that is a subjective term as to timing anyway, and there really isn’t a penalty for waiting too long, or maybe even such a thing as waiting too long.
What I have said repeatedly is that the decision as to when a RE investor should go full time is when, and only when you are absolutely certain that by not going full time, that your current full time vocation is costing you heavily, by the continuation of the vocation. Certainly many folks make the leap to full time without fitting this criteria. They make the move based on speculation that they will be able to make plenty of money with all that newly gained free time. This however, doesn’t hold true for most folks that make the move. The reason being is that they haven’t really perfected why they are successful, or the process of knowing exactly that when they do “X” that “Y” will happen. This takes far too much time for most folks to know and understand, and therefore they prematurely make the move.
So STEW… don’t denegrate yourself or your self worth based upon whether you are full time as an investor… You have lots of other categories to judge yourself by, and when you are ready to move to full time, only do so with “knowing” that it is time… Anything short of that is the wrong decision for you… IMO.