Congratulations, persistence triumphs over all obstacles.

I am a noob here, this but my 3rd post. So hope the content doesn’t offend the sensibilities of anyone. And apologies if it is in the wrong forum discussion, seems is a 5 post minimum to post in "make deals, find pa...

This reminds me of a Rudyard Kipling Poem, titled:IFIf you can keep your head when all about youAre losing theirs and blaming it on you,If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,But make allowance for their doubting too;If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,Or being hated, don't give way to hating,And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;If you can meet with Triumph and DisasterAnd treat those two impostors just the same;If you can bear to hear the truth you've spokenTwisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools:If you can make one heap of all your winningsAnd risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,And lose, and start again at your beginningsAnd never breathe a word about your loss;If you can force your heart and nerve and sinewTo serve your turn long after they are gone,And so hold on when there is nothing in youExcept the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

What have been your triumphs and pitfalls, if any thus far? 

The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."

In a parallel example on of my professors used to love to point out, the English poet John Milton initially planned to write 8 books of Paradise Lost (about the fall of Adam and Eve) and 8 books of Paradise Regained (about Christ's triumph over Satan's temptations in the desert).

The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of a republic; since it offers a strong moral check against the usurpation and arbitrary power of rulers;and will generally, even if these are successful in the first instance, enable the people to resist and triumph over them."

My suggestion would be that you also get involved in your local REIA so that you begin to know who the local players are and so you call learn from their triumphs and mistakes.Happy Investing Blake!!!

“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.”

BP is a great place to learn from other people's triumphs and tribulations, so make sure you stay active on the forums and blogs.