New super motivated member from Sioux Falls, SD!

[Brandon Sheffield]

I'd like to take a moment to introduce myself and say hello to everybody at biggerpockets! My name is Brandon and I currently live and will be investing in my hometown of Sioux Falls, SD. I'm a fulltime specialized/certified auto mechanic and like my job; yes, "like". My JOB offers me a paycheck a couple times per month, but is not guaranteed since I'm on a paid-per-job salary. I do not have additional benefits besides dental insurance (not family) and I provide my own health insurance for myself and family. 401k... What's that!? Don't get me wrong, they are an awesome place to work and it's great working for a family owned store. It can be frustrating at times though like any JOB. I'll stop my rant for now.

Anyways, I'm a newbie and have been following Sean Terry, Joe McCall and Todd Toback's podcasts for a few months now. I plan to concentrate on lease options, subject to's and wholesale deals.

To give you a bit about myself I'll start when I was heavily overweight at 265lbs. Yikes and yes, I grew to hate this weight. My girlfriend at the time and I loved to eat. Finally it was time for a change, a very aggressive change. I was determined to change myself and I knew I could once I set my mind to it. That's exactly what I did through healthy eating, researching and motivation. Exercise as well of course ;) After losing 100lbs of fat, I still wasn't happy and was seeking more. I got myself a gym membership and grew enough to obtain 2nd place at a national level fitness contest. Currently I'm 195lbs at 10% bodyfat and wouldn't be this without the same desire I plan to execute through real estate investing.

I don't have a lot of free time right now. I'm a father of a preterm daughter born at 26 weeks (currently 39 weeks, yay!) still in the hospital, I'm a father to my 7 year old stepson and I'm a husband to my beautiful wife. Between hospital visits, my full time job (7:30am until 5pm M-F) and my family, I've been a busy man. My ultimate goal is to find financial freedom through real estate investing. I'd love to drink coffee with my wife in the mornings and spend more time with my family in general. I will accomplish this and at the end of the day I will give thanks to the members of biggerpockets, those that inspire me through podcasts and most of all God.

So far:
-I've created a website that can offer myself leads
-Found a title company that can manage double escrows, assignments
-Created a Google Voice account
-Obtained a good start to general understanding of the deals I'd like to accomplish
-Created forms to do these deals

Now, I'm sure there are a lot more things that I forgot to list. As of today I became a member of biggerpockets and also joined Sean Terry's Academy. I'm super excited for both and most anxious to do my first deal. I'll keep everybody posted along the way and I wish you all the best.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and sorry if there are mistakes. I'm trying to post this while my boy is playing Madden football on his Wii. Oh boy!

Have a great day!