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Updated almost 15 years ago, 02/20/2010
New to the forum Tampa, FL
Hey everyone!
I have been meaning to post an introduction here but I kept putting it off! My name is Cole Haynes and I just turned 24 on January 7th. I was born and raised in Tampa, FL.
I have been lurking around on this site now for about two months and I have learned ALOT from the articles and blogs. I have been investing in real estate for about 4 years now. I started very young and the market was still going crazy in my area at that time so I didn't know how to break in and get started.
Then I got a hold of some information on investing in mobile homes on land and in parks. This was very interesting to me because at the time I had $1200 to my name. It was a very inexpensive way to start investing and getting my feet wet, I thought.
Thinking I was going to set the world on fire with one trailer after another I dove straight in... I bought a piece of vacant land, bought a repo trailer, pulled permits, impact fees, sub contractors, etc.
It was ROUGH and I had never experienced so many let downs and trying times in my life! haha, short life.
That lasted for about one FULL year. Because, once I got the package complete I was unable to sell it. So that lead to my first experience as a landlord. I made EVERY mistake in the book when it came to landlording! eventually after about 18 months I was able to sell the house and break even.
I was totally and completely beaten down! You see, when I first started this deal I was SO confident that I would quickly become the next Donald Trump of the trailer world I dropped out of college. Between my scholarships and my (then) employers scholarship I was getting paid to go to school!
After that long and depressing deal was over I still had no education or career to fall back on....
So, I stuck with it and learned EVERYTHING I could about financing. I started buying land/home mobile home deals that were ALREADY together. I did one, then two at a time, then three, and so on.
Then, about a year ago I became very interested in no money down type deals (Sub2 and Lease/options). After taking some time to educate myself I started finding good deals. Now I am finding great deals! Between wholesaling, buy and hold, and lease/options I will easily do 20+ deals in 2010.
That is how I would summarize my investing career so far! Oh, looking back I wouldn't have changed leaving school for the world. Not having that to fall back on FORCED me to push on until I was able to do profitable deals!
I have some huge goals for myself this year, Personal and professional. I am getting married this year on November 20th to an AMAZING person. I am very excited about that! Some other goals include raising my passive income. I want to take a writing class this year, soon actually. I have never been good at putting my thoughts on paper.
I hope to meet some like-minded people and learn a lot from this site!
Thanks for reading,
Cole Haynes
Welcome to BP Nation Cole. Sounds like you are well ahead in the game.
Congrats on your upcoming marriage and on your success to date.
Will Barnard
hey cole! welcome! i'm not too far down the road from you.
Welcome to Bigger Pockets. Good job on a significant track record by the age of 24. If you stay active on here you will find a wealth of education.
To Your Success,
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#3 Guru, Book, & Course Reviews Contributor
- Investor, Entrepreneur, Educator
- Springfield, MO
Welcome Cole, sounds like you're on your way! Don't forget, your education never stops. You may not have gotten what you thought was a useful education in college, but it will come together later on, it always helps! Good Luck, Bill
Thank you very much for the warm welcome! I am truly enjoying this site. There is SO much experience to learn from!
Bill, I appreciate your mention of school. This is something my dad brought up alot back when I was changing plans. I am already starting to lose that tunnel vision I think we all start out with when we get out on our own, haha.
I also, wanted to correct a part of my post that said, "I will EASILY do 20+ deals this year." I didn't think that sounded very good when I re-read my post. That is actually an ambitious goal for me. So, I am confident and plan to do 20+ deals this year.
Thanks again everyone!
Cole
Welcome to BP! You came to the right place
Hi Cole, we live in Lakewood Ranch.