Learning how to adjust to market changes

[Stephen Barton]

I just want to encourage anyone who has ever had failures or setbacks in real estate. I started wholesaling just over two years ago and up until March of this year- things could not have been better. Then, for some reason everything just stopped! I mean, I had some leads but not a single deal for May or June. Not one! Maybe it was my marketing? Maybe it was me?! No matter what the root cause was, I have learned that we are in control of our own destiny.

Just because you fall, it just means that you have to find a way to pick yourself back up. I thankfully have my real estate license which I have started to use. Our market in Indianapolis has really become a seller's market. I mean I have clients wanting to see houses that were just listed that already have accepted offers on them before we even get inside of them. It is great if you have deals but if you are the wholesaler trying to find deals - it is tough. So, other wholesalers in my area are doing just fine. I know two who have not really noticed that much of a change. I watched a couple of others completely drop out altogether. 

I felt sorry for myself for about two weeks and then remembered how I got started - from nothing! I literally started with a couple of hundred dollars and heart full of desire to improve my financial picture. I went back to my roots and started becoming hungry again. I had to shift my focus a little toward the retail side of the business- but I love helping other people find their next home! I kept up my marketing and sure enough I think I might have two deals that may be in my future- God willing! I just want other people to remember when you felt like you were being kicked while you were down. I want you to remember the last time you had failure and what you did to change the outcome. 

Life is all about the choices we make and today I have to say that I am NOT a quitter! This is not an easy statement to write out. It takes a lot of faith and determination, but I am starting to see that the ones who succeed are the ones who never give up! You have to keep sticking to your guns. Do not do what I did and start changing your marketing just because something isn't working like it used to. Just keep doing what has worked in the past and roll with it. I started spending massive amounts of money on stuff that I never used in the past. It got me nowhere! I went back to doing what I did when I was that insecure guy hanging onto a hope that I could provide a better financial future for my family. I went back to that guy who said: "Failure is NOT an option!"

When you look back on your life as I am doing right now, I hope that you can say you gave it all you could give. I am looking back on how I became arrogant, and possibly selfish. I think it is important for us to reflect on our past- so we do not repeat it. Today, I am a much more humble investor. Sometimes we can allow life to get to us in a bad way. Now, I am taking this awful experience I have had in the last two months as a learning lesson. We can change our future by making sure we do not repeat our past!