Driven in Snohomish County, Washington!!!

[Aaron Ramm]

HELLO ALL!!!

I am extremely excited to be a part of the Bigger Pockets world!!!

I stumbled upon the Bigger Pockets Podcast on Stitcher as a recommendation.  I have since listened to just about every episode and a few multiple times!!

I created my profile October 24th last year and have poked around the forums and never completed my profile until today.  Surfing the site had my head spinning a little bit, but I feel more comfortable with it today as I become more familiar with the tornado of information at my fingertips!

For the last 2 years I have been feverishly working on Great West Real Estate Investments, LLC pouring every little bit of time and money I have into the business.

I have been checking CraigsList, calling FSBO's and making moves toward doing, but have yet to close my first deal.

I am currently reducing my hours at my J.O.B. (Just Over Broke) to increase my hours at Great West REI.

I am very open minded and would love to work with any of you who want to money or time partner, and am looking forward to networking with other investors.  I want to learn more, I NEED to do more!

Thank you @Joshua Dorkin for creating this site and the Bigger Pockets Podcast and hiring my fellow Washingtonian Brandon Turner.  Thank you Brandon for your work on the site, and thanks to everyone involved who doesn't need to offer their help but does because they can!

Looking forward to a lifetime of REI relationships!

-Aaron Ramm (Double"A"Ron)

[Troy Fisher]

Aaron...

Your post has a lot of red flags in it!  Bringing these to the front of your mind may help you get past your first hurdle.  I'll break your post out and point out mindset issues that I see:

• For the last 2 years I have been feverishly working on Great West Real Estate Investments, LLC pouring every little bit of time and money I have into the business.

Is your business anything more then buy and hold?  Or being a rehabber, wholesaler?  In any case the best use of your time and money is to network, and evaluating deals. In general most people get too distracted with the background noise of "having a business" that they forget to actually do business.

• I have been checking CraigsList, calling FSBO's and making moves toward doing, but have yet to close my first deal.

What are your goals?  Are you trying to find off market properties to buy? Craigslist does have some wholesalers on it trying to sell properties, but often you'll find they are guru students who often reply, "Well I don't have that property (or any property) right now, can I add you to my buyers list?"  For me personally, craigslist is a time sink.  

• I am currently reducing my hours at my J.O.B. (Just Over Broke) to increase my hours at Great West REI.

What do you need more time to do?  Also is it wise to lower your W2 income and lending potential?  Are there other areas that you can cut back on?  When I was looking for my first deals, I got up at 5am hit the websites, and sent emails to Realtors before anyone got into the office.

• I am very open minded and would love to work with any of you who want to money or time partner, and am looking forward to networking with other investors. I want to learn more, I NEED to do more!

Right now, the best use of your time is to network. I know there are a lot of REIA's on the Eastside (Bellevue and Redmond area) I'm not sure about what is happening up north, but if you really want to get things going try to get a Meetup setup in Monroe or Everett. Attract these people to your location.

Here's a problem I see, so many people get captivated by the thought of the E-Myth and 4 Hr Work Week, that they focus on the wrong aspects first.  Before you can build the systems and a business you need to be active in the business!

Good luck sir, and I look forward to seeing more of your enthusiasm around the forums!