A few weeks back I sent out an APB (all points bulletin) for anyone who can help share their

real estate investing wisdom with our readers.  We actually had about 9 people respond who wanted to write… but only 3 made our cut. 

What did it take to make the cut?

Well… it takes being a real person who has real value to share with new and struggling real estate investors.  Not people who just want a little link love from our blog.

Anyhow, one of the investors who will be writing from time to time is Stephanie over at Flip This Wholesaler.  Stephanie just finished her first year in real estate investing… and has the bumps and bruises to prove it.

However, Stephanie has seen some success and has huge potential to make it big (especially with her tenacity and get to the point personality) in real estate investing.

Anyhow, Steph is a newer real estate investor and can help other new investors out there learn from her mistakes and victories. 

I guarantee you’ll enjoy any article Steph writes… whether it’s over here at The REI Brain… or on her site.

ENJOY!

—-

A Report From the Trenches

Hard to believe the year is over. Last year at this time I was preparing for my final bartending shift, and fantasizing about all of the money I was going to be making in my glorious new career as a real estate wholesaler.

Although I had only completed a handful of deals, and didn’t really have much of a financial cushion to fall back on if things didn’t go as planned, quitting my job and jumping in full time still seemed like a fantastic idea.

I mean, what could possibly go wrong?

According to many of the gurus, I should be making a million dollars or so a year right out of the gate. With my eyes closed.

Unfortunately, things didn’t really work out the way I had envisioned (not even close), and despite my best efforts, I did not get another deal closed until the first day of JULY.

In case you don’t have a calculator handy, that’s 6 MONTHS without getting a single deal.

I’ve read all of the inspirational classics, and I’ve been told over and over again that the key to success is persistence. I’ve even got the famous Calvin Coolidge quote about persistence taped to my computer monitor, staring me in the face every single day.

I never really “got it”, though, until I was smack dab in the middle of my 6 month dry spell. I felt like a complete failure, and all I really wanted to do was throw the towel in and give up. I had to borrow money from a friend at one point because my cell phone was about to get disconnected, and I was a few days away from being evicted. No lie.

Good times.

That’s when it dawned on me that maybe THIS is what all that persistence talk was about. It’s easy to stay motivated after you’ve just read Think and Grow Rich, or after you’ve just gotten back from a Tony Robbins seminar, or a wholesaling bootcamp. It’s an entirely different scenario, however, to keep the faith when you are at your wits end, out of money, and crying on your closet floor because you are so frustrated and angry with yourself for not being able to contract a SINGLE DEAL in SIX MONTHS, and all you want to do is give the middle finger to this stupid real estate dream of yours, and also rip the head off of the next person who tells you to “Hang in there.”

This is where you earn it. This is the point at which most people would give up and walk away, and I’ll be damned if I was going to be one of those people.

No way.

So, here I am, at the end of the most challenging year of my life (by far),
and things are FINALLY starting to come together.

I’ve closed 3 deals since October, and am working on a 4th as I type this. None of the deals were huge paydays, but enough to keep me on top of my bills, and more importantly, to give me the confidence to keep forging ahead.

I know this isn’t the “Make a bazillion dollars your first year in real estate” story that many of the gurus are selling, but it’s the truth, and I hope it will motivate you just the same.

Keep forging ahead, guys- keep taking action every single day, and most importantly, DO NOT GIVE UP!  Not ever.

——

NOTE FROM REI BRAIN:  This right here is why 95% of all “real estate investors” fail within 6 months… THEY GIVE UP WAY TOO EARLY!  Steph is part of the 5% who will end up succeeding because of her pigheaded tenacity (I mean that as a compliment Steph .   

As Steph says, getting started in real estate investing is not easy… it is a lot of hard work and sometimes frustration.  However, to succeed you need to find the right system to follow, team up with a mentor, and never give up. 

Don’t Give Up 5 Minutes Before the Miracle

Be sure to keep checking back for updates from Steph (hopefully including actual numbers from deals she’s doing right now) and the other investors who are joining The REI Brain team to provide you with the best unbiased and actionable content anywhere on the internet on real estate investing.

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