When did you know this was for you?

[Justin Green]

When did you have that feeling this is it this is what I was meant to do? Not when you thought I should be involved in Real Estate somehow. More of when did you actually believe in yourself that you can make it on this only?

[J Scott]

I think I'm almost there...

[Jay Hinrichs]

@Justin Green 

  When my dad taught me the bizz at 10 then I had to get a real job at 15 and bag groceries then my dad said stay home for 2 months study get your RE license.. I did that at 18.. made my first sale a few months later made 600.00 commish when the best I could do bagging groceries was 1.65 an hour ( which was a lot in 1975) Never looked back  RE has treated me well and it has also sent some daggers in my heart as well.

[Darrell Shepherd]

My dad took me to a Ron LeGrand seminar because they were in Atlanta and I could go free.  I was like "If a quarter of what this guy is saying is true, I'm SO doing this!"  Quit a six figure job 4 months later and the only house I'd ever bought was the one I lived in.  Pretty crazy stuff...Took me 4 months to buy my first one, but I bought 4 that month, 12 that year.

Don't recommend that for everyone, but it worked for me pretty well until the crash hit.  I got kicked in the nuts and then some so didn't want to look at a house, much less own one for a few years.  When I got back in the biz I had my bills so low it didn't take but one of the big checks (rehab) to put me in a pretty good spot.  I live pretty well, but still have my monthly bills crazy low so I don't stress when I go a while between paydays.  

A lot of how easily you can transition to full time is dependent on your cash reserves and monthly nut.  

It cracks me up when people say "thats all you do?"  when I tell them I buy houses, fix them up and resell them for a living.  I'm pretty slack now, but when I first started I was doing 16 hour days 7 days a week for well over a year.  

[Justin Green]

@J Scott  I have heard your name multiple times on the podcast. I think you have made it :) 

@Jay Hinrichs Sounds like you had a great mentor and learned early. My wheels are turning. 1 deal a month replaces 4-6 weeks of working for someone else's dream, giving up sleeping in my own bed, missing my family, and working 70 hour weeks. So working 250 hours or put that effort into closing a deal? if I put 250 hours into closing a deal you think it should be more than just 1. You are an inspiration.

[James Wise]

When I found out you could buy a house with someone else's money 

(Bank)

Then you could pay off that house using another person's money

(Rent)

SOLD. I'm in!

[Darrell Shepherd]

Justin, those 70 hour weeks is why I quit before I had any under my belt.  Hard to put much effort into a new business when your time is consumed with your old one.  I put out some bandit signs and my phone would flat out blow up (this was 1999 or so), but I couldn't get to them.  In hindsight I was pretty arrogant, I was 27 at the time.  My biggest mistake was not getting my bills down from $4k/mo.  I didn't pull a dime out of the company the first year so money got pretty tight before it started raining dollars (and it did back then).

A lot of that wil depend on strategy.  Pretty easy to pick up some turnkey rentals and hand them to a management company while you're working corporate.  Virtually impossible to run a rehab business correctly without the time to look at deals and manage the work.

[Justin Green]

@Darrell Shepherd  getting the expenses down is key I agree. I also like the idea of 4-5 little houses pay for my primary residence then what I work for feeds the family so the monthly nut isn't so bad. I am very much finding my time drained by the 9-5 or 6-7-8-9-11..... It is difficult to follow up on the leads when my phone does blow up then I also get to deal with I'm 300 miles away but I can meet you next week maybe, if I don't get sent off somewhere else. I am researching bandit signs and mass marketing. I know when I pull the trigger on that I need to be ready to handle it.

BTW my knowing when is happening NOW. its an incredible mindset change and different view of the world. Taking action, making hard decisions, and praying that I am right.

[John Chapman]

Ever since I was young, I always had ideas floating around in my head, from being an astronaut, to doctor, to archaeologist etc... I never knew exactly what I wanted to do up until my high school graduation. 

Upon entering college It was recommended that I look into becoming a biomedical technician; it sounded good, so I said YES! I enjoy my job, but there are multiple reasons I wanted something more....

-The ability to help my family with financial burdens.
-The dream of traveling the world
-Never in my wildest dreams would I want to work for 1/3 of my life just to pay for my old age. 

There is a quote I like by Warren Buffet-

“There comes a time when you ought to start doing what you want. Take a job that you love. You will jump out of bed in the morning. I think you are out of your mind if you keep taking jobs that you don't like because you think it will look good on your resume. Isn't that a little like saving up sex for your old age?”

What inspires me the most is the promise of leaving the normal rat race of today's society. It's not exactly the money that motivates me, but the fact that I'll have financial freedom to do other things I LOVE.

[Diamond DeVies-Ellis]

I have many entrepreneurial aspirations. So the day came for me once I realized that I could fund my own ideas through wealth created from real estate.

It is known that most self-proclaimed millionaires got their wealth from real estate. And for me, my real estate passions fall right in line with the lifestyle I would like to live. I love to travel so one day I would like to invest in vacation rentals. Until that day I am keeping myself busy learning and utilizing other investment strategies and niches such as wholesaling and probates.

[Justin Green]

Let me rephrase this one a bit. We all have dreamed of being a real estate since we were young. At least I have dreamed of being in Real Estate since late teens. Now is my "This is it moment" Having a few deals come together

When did you have that moment of " This is it" actually become real? When was your dream real?

[Justin Green]

@John Chapman I too did not realize what to do once High School was over. I entered into IT right around 2000 where anyone with an IT degree was making 70K+ during college that entry level wage dropped to 30K. I landed in Cinema/Hollywood Technical. I love the job just not the hours, travel, politics or satisfaction from completing the job.

It could not have been said better, why wait to live your life.

Freedom is my why.  

[John Chapman]

@Justin Green  It is interesting to hear other people's stories! Like you said, it's about the freedom. 

We never know when our time here is up, and if it comes sooner than expected, will we look back and regret being behind a desk working for someone else the majority of our lives? Or will we look back and be content with what we have accomplished?

Since you rephrased..."When did you have that moment of " This is it" actually become real? When was your dream real?"

I believe my AHA! moment is very fast approaching. I'm thinking about it from the time I wake up until the time I'm in bed at night. This moment will be once I successfully close my first wholesale deal. 

[Jerry W.]

For me it was not an aha moment.  It was and is a series of smaller steps.  Buying a junky trailer house scraping to make payments, selling that and buying a piece of land putting a well, septic, utilities and another small trailer on it.  Again scraping top make payments, eventually selling that and paying off the the first stick house I had lived in for 11 years.  Being one half owner of a small house bought by 2 guys who probably had less than a thousand dollars in the bank.  Eventually buying the other partner out 20 years later.  It is still not full time, and probably never will be.  However I have spent almost half of my waking hours fixing roofs, furnaces, sump pumps, and painting.  So perhaps I am getting closer.

[Willie Sparkman]

I realized that real estate investing was for me when I saw the money coming in.