Beginning At The Beginning

[Nicholas DeLouisa Jr]

Okay, so I was in my profile last night and came across the Blog button. I was feeling a bit verbose at the time, so I decided to write a blog, my first in life. I posted it, then decided to try to read it. I went to the Blog Page, and realized I had made a bit of a mistake. I was unaware that the blog page was dedicated to serious articles meant to contain actionable advice on specific topics. I thought the blog button in my profile would allow me to create my own blog. Which it did, but what I wrote about wasn't intended for that kid of a setting, more of a laid back, "this is what I'm thinking, feeling, and doing in REI right now" sort of thing.

Thankfully, the blog wasn't posted on that page, but it does exist on my own personal blog page. I intend to keep at it, but I don't want these musings to be published on the "featured blog" page. I'm going to keep posting my thoughts and ideas on my blog, but I'm also going to post them here in the Off Topic area. I don't want to bog down any of the other REI forums with my prattling.

Anyway, here's my first blog the way I wrote it last night ...

Here's the deal: I've never done this before. Blogged, I mean. I used to keep a diary when I was younger. They said it was a good way to reduce the stress imposed by feelings I didn't want to talk about. I was loyal to that diary, made entries every day of whatever I was feeling and thinking and I did it for about three weeks. I got nowhere with it and I had no idea why until much later: a diary doesn't give back. There will never be a response, no "atta-boy," or, "I hear ya," or, "just ask her out already and leave me alone." (And if you've ever kept a diary and did get a response ... you may be visiting the wrong website.)

I've also never invested in anything other than my pension plan and my 401k. Not so long ago I knew nothing about real estate or how to invest in it. As of today, I know only slightly more than nothing, so this blog won't include any advice on tricky ways to raise capital or get a subject-to deal (whatever that is) or get a carry-back or a throw-back or a quarter-back or any other back. Not yet, anyway.

What I want to talk about is the beginning of the beginning. That time when a person is interested in an idea, but it's still just an idea, an imaginary, intangible thing, a thought or feeling, and that person has no plan or path or methodology to turn that idea into reality.

Until very recently (like last week), that was me. I've had the same ideas and thoughts all of us on BP have had at one time or another. It started like this: "Wouldn't it be nice if ...," and graduated to, "I wonder if I could ...," and then it became, "Hmmm, that's interesting ...," and finally, "I bet I could do that."

There's a movie called The Edge, with Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin. They are stranded in the wilderness, starving and freezing and fighting bears in deadly hand-to-hand combat (you read that right). They are trying to survive, but Baldwin is breaking down emotionally and in an effort to bolster him, Hopkins says, "What one man can do, another can do." They chant it together a few times until Baldwin's fighting spirit returns and the movie continues.

The story was okay (bears included), but the feeling of "if he can do it, I can do it" resonated within me. Whenever I tried to do something in my life (teach myself an instrument, for example), I only had to look around at the people I knew that were doing that thing. They weren't special, they weren't geniuses. Maybe they had talent, but I knew I had intelligence and a good work ethic and, even without talent, that if I applied myself I would be successful, to some degree, whatever the endeavor.

However, up until a few years ago I didn't know anyone in the field of real estate. In fact, all of the people I knew were savings-account oriented. There wasn't an investor anywhere among my family or friends, so I had no way to be exposed to any of it. Then my sister and brother-in-law decided to move their family (then a kid with one on the way) out of their tiny 680 square-foot house, and into a much larger home, build an apartment in the new basement, and rent out that lower level and also the other tiny house.

Good ideas on the surface, but I watched them make mistake after mistake in these decisions, use unreliable family for part of the construction, rent the tiny house to the first tenant that applied for an amount that doesn't even cover the mortgage, borrow money from family they don't even like.

And you know what? So far it's all worked out okay. They aren't making any money yet (still paying off the cost of building the apartment), but they both have good jobs so money isn't a huge issue. They made the mistakes and learned from them and moved on. Now they're looking forward, making contacts, doing what they can to become ensconced in this world.

I watched all of this from the point of view of an extremely concerned brother, brother-in-law, uncle and Godfather, and you know what? When it all worked out I thought, "If they can do it, I can do it."

So I read books. Investing In Real Estate for Dummies. Rich Dad Poor Dad. The Art Of The Deal. The BP Ultimate Beginner's Guide. I'm in the middle of The ABCs of Real Estate Investing. There are six more books on the shelf waiting for me, and by the time I finish them, I'm sure I will have added to my list.

I joined this website and posted an introduction and also my insane fears, and I was so warmly welcomed by everyone here.

Okay, maybe not everyone (that would be thousands and thousands of posts and nothing else would ever get done around here), but enough people responded to me that I did feel, almost immediately, like I belonged here. And a lot of you are beginners like me, just as scared and nervous and confused and dedicated.

I will keep this blog updated as much as my little free time will allow. I want to sort of document my path, let people know what it's like for someone just starting out. Maybe I can help assuage the fears out there, let people know they are not alone in their terror (is that too strong?). Maybe knowing what someone else is thinking and feeling, reading and doing and planning might inspire other people to keep pushing themselves when they're stuck behind an obstacle that seems insurmountable.

I hope this helps someone out there - even if just emotionally, because I sure don't know what I'm doing yet.

-Nick