What was the thing that made you finally get started?

Question

Hello,

I was curious what was the one thing that made you finally get started in real estate? I am making the steps to get started after being the "education cycle" for several years. This past year, we lost my mother-in-law suddenly in August to a ruptured aneurysm at age 60, and soon after, my husband was hospitalized with pancreatitis for 10 days in September. He had another minor bout this month, but is back in the hospital again this past week. Before all this happened, I had left a company I was at for 23 years because I was miserable in the job I had to take another job with a smaller company. I have had to miss over two weeks so far because of all this, and while I my company has been understanding, I am am afraid I may lose my new job for missing two much time. I met a local successful realtor who is in need of a full time assistant, so I am considering applying for that position, and I will also be signing up for a coaching program next month with my local REIA. We are blessed to have some savings set aside currently. I feel I have found my why now to work for our future and claim our lives back.

Christine Lang · Answer

What an amazing story Jim. I hope you and your family are still doing okay.

Jim K. · Answer

@Christine Lang

I really had no concrete conception of money as power until the country of Greece went under in 2010, and even then the lesson wasn't really rammed home until 2015.

Imagine you lived in a cash economy where very few transactions were completed using credit cards, bank cards, or personal checks. Then one day you went to the bank to withdraw money and the bank explained that the people running the finances of the country had decided you couldn't take out any of your own money from any bank in Greece. That's what happened in Greece in 2015. The total lockdown lasted for twenty days. After twenty days, capital controls were relaxed and you could take out sixty euros a day from your own account. Capital controls were only fully lifted from Greek banks this September.

My uncles run a shoe factory making soles for Italian bootmakers. During those twenty days, they couldn't pay their employees or their suppliers. My aunt is a retired dentist. She couldn't buy groceries.

The EU decided to turn off the money for everyone in Greece. One decision, no voting necessary. Greece was economically crucified.

Three days into those twenty days, we sent our entire personal emergency fund, six thousand dollars, through Western Union to Rome. I bought my cousin a round-trip e-ticket to Rome from Athens to pick up the money. My wife and I went to our bank and started the process of getting a personal loan. I would damned to the blackest pit of Hell before I let some eggheads in Brussels screw my family. And pretty much the entire Greek diaspora worldwide did exactly the same thing.

It focuses the mind wonderfully when your family calls you up and tells you they're going to go bust because of crazy banana-republic-style political reasons they have no control over, and your little emergency fund is all that stands between them and economic ruin.

So it was really in 2015 that the fog completely cleared and I decided I was going to take a very hard stab at becoming and staying wealthy, with massive reserves, and nobody nowhere was ever going to be able to use economic leverage to screw with my family again.

Once the fog disappears, thankfully, it stays gone forever.

Christine Lang · Answer

What an inspirational story and congratulations on the growing family! I was trying to climb the corporate ladder and missed out on a lot of important things with those I cared about and its time for a change. Your story is a great example anybody can change their life no matter the circumstances. I also thought Rich Dad Poor Dad was a great book as well.

Katherine Earle · Answer

@Christine Lang After we built a 6 figure business, had tons of stuff, tons of debt and found ourselves slaves to the money and miserable.....I read Rich Dad and a few other pivotal books and next thing you know, we found ourselves walking away from our business, filed for bankruptcy, put our family in a homeless shelter and started to rebuild our future with the goal to filter income from a different business into real estate investing and build an investor-friendly brokerage and property management company from the ground up. We just moved 2100 miles away to finally buy that first property after 4 years of prep and I don't think I've been this excited about anything outside of meeting my husband and the births of my children (with baby #5 about to arrive in 3 months!)....!

John Teachout · Answer

Does your family rely on your job for health insurance? If so, that may be a reason not to make any major changes during this period of uncertainty. I'm guessing the real estate related job would be lower paying than your other career?