Rubber meets the road!!

[Aaron Gaffney]

Thrilled beyond words! I wanted to flip houses since graduating from university in 2011, both to pay off my loans quickly and because I love to use my creativity to build better places. But I didn’t really understand how The whole thing works… My girlfriend at the time had parents who had been doing this for many years, but it was luxury properties and they lived in them as well, often owning them for 10 or 15 years. I had to run across a few people who did it professionally in my career as a landscape contractor. Neither of these situations lead into getting a really good understanding of the process, or really of the entire scope of the field of investment.

Fast forward to 2017: I was on a road trip, spending a few months in the Arizona winter to get out of the rain in Seattle, trying to manage a nightmare of health challenges rooted in Lyme disease. I was beginning to get a taste for podcasts, and stumbled across Bigger pockets. mind = blown! I cannot believe there was a group of people that not only did this as a profession, but we’re willing to help others and share their knowledge. I was literally a wash in tears of joy for the next several weeks… and spent the next several months in several years learning everything I could about all the aspects and all the options in real estate investing, getting a much clearer view of what was possible and what I actually wanted. My credit was a bit of a wreck due to having to live on credit cards during much of my illness when I was not diagnosed, and driving From place to place trying to find somewhere that my body felt OK! But, during this time of learning and sucking everything in like a sponge, I was also planting seeds and cultivating relationships. I kind of jumped on and off the bigger pockets site, although I was so excited about it, sometimes I was also very discouraged because I wanted to be deep into it and cannot seem to break in. I was also dealing with a series of horrible employer relationships, where racism, sexism and harassment were actually the norm, and not only practiced by the management but celebrated! Being an adult with an intact moral sense, these did not work out and  for the first time in my adult life I was fired, twice, after reporting this situation that were going on with other managers to the owners of the companies. This left me really shaken internally, wondering how our government and businesses could be so dysfunctional, nasty and disgusting and downright cruel. And obviously, did not help with my credit situation any! I know that they say you can get involved in real estate without any of your own cash or credit, but having a Poor or even less than perfect credit score can make investing, and many other facets of living in this modern age, nearly impossible.

Fast forward again, 2021: the years of planting seeds and cultivating and learning, or about to pay off. A created a business partnership and have seed money to start investing. I am about to purchase a business which will be phenomenal for cash flow, and is an area that has abundant  opportunity for real estate investing. We are doing our first flip, long distance/out of state with a joint venture partner who has a construction company and is also an investor, working almost exclusively with other investors. If it hadn’t been for bigger pockets, I never even would’ve considered that it was possible to invest somewhere other than where you live! I have had to blow past family members and friends trying to convince me not to do it, that’s too dangerous, blah blah blah for the past four years and then some. I have learned that the only people qualified to give me advice in ANY arena are the ones doing what I want to do, and explicitly living the life that I want to be living. Had a great awakening with Robert Kiyosaki and the cash flow quadrant. I am a believer! Businesses, real estate, assets. Who in the world said that there is no roadmap to life or success? You can go into any bookstore and there on shelf after shelf are the so-called secrets to limitless success and wealth. Podcasts and communities of investors of every kind are out there and eager to connect (Facebook and LinkedIn have been GREAT for finding fellow investors too!)

Looking forward to making more connections here, And many abundant years of joint ventures, partnerships, BRRR rental, flips and lending. It really is all about the people; and we get to make a crazy good living by solving problems through real estate!