This may seem rather elementary to some but I wanted to offer this to anyone who may be wondering what they are doing wrong or when things will take off for them?

I started in Real Estate Investing in 1999 and knew virtually NOTHING about real estate nor had I ever bought a house. I had not read one book or attended any "hype" seminars so I was really GREEN.
A cousin had showed me how to read a foreclosure list and I ventured into my new career.
I failed daily. I failed weekly. I failed at homeowners doors. I failed on the phone. I failed in areas people claimed failure was not possible.
Then one day everything seemed to make more sense. I didn't really understand why or how but I was happy to realize something positive could rise out of the moountain of failures I had encountered.

It took me over three years to figure out what had happened when I started and why all those failures didn't lead me out of the business.
Now that I have been lucky enough to be able to teach what I have learned and know for the largest real estate training school in the country (Kaplan Professional Schools) as well as the top local real estate investment club (www.dfwrein.com), I can tell you that in my humble opinion, it takes TWO things to make it in this business......

[b] 1- Common Sense

2- Organization[/b]

Are you joking??? Any idiot could say something like that!
Well this is true so allow me to explain WHY I say this:

The most talented investors I have encountered all have one thing in common..... they are always ORGANIZED.
When you are new and don't know as much as you would like, HOW are you supposed to know HOW to be organized if you don't know WHAT needs to be organized???

The answer is COMMON SENSE.

You WILL make mistakes as you improve and grow as a real estate investor. Your Common Sense will alert you when you make a mistake THUS... the next time you encounter a similar situation... you will then be more Organized and hopefully you will gain enough experience through failure that you will become a SUCCESS!

I am proof that it is possible to be a "successful failure."

Lots of land mines out there folks. Look to the people with the most common sense in the business for guidance. We were all new once and there is more than enough business to go around.

Good luck and welcome all newbies. :woohoo:

Jim Watkins
www.dfwmentor.com