Goals and Background (very long post)

Let me make my first post be an introduction and description of my goals in Real Estate Investing.

I am not old, but I am 40.  I still feel young, but there is something about turning 40 that has caused me to really focus on wrapping up my working career.  

I have done a lot.  I have traveled and lived in some very exotic locations such as Taipei Taiwan, Siberia Russia, in the Andes in Argentina, Dubai in the UAE, and many more places.  

I have also had a lot of JOBs (I use JOB as the acronym Just Over Broke).  I worked as a Satellite Engineer where I wore many hats, I have been a Football Coach and got two of my players to the NFL one of which won a Super Bowl, I have been a Business Coach, I have been a very successful Mathematics Teacher, most recently I was a Consulting Teacher which means I teach teachers, and now I embark on my Real Estate career as a Realtor and an Investor.

The one thing that is constant about my journey as an employee is that it has not worked for me.  I have been highly successful in every one of my occupations and have walked away from them all mostly because I felt I was not getting paid what I deserved.  

I can work, I like working I think it keeps us young and our minds strong.  I look forward to the day to day challenges and problem solving.  What does not work for me is having to sit in an office or a building for 7-10 hours a day when I can get my assigned work done in 3 to 4 hours a day.  The drudgery of having to go to work every day just does not work for me.  And I always over deliver which does not work in a salary job.  Because I constantly over deliver I get great work reviews, I get pats on the back, and I get recognized all the time.  What I don't get is pay raises, bonuses, and more money.  As a matter of fact in every JOB I have had as I become more successful I just get more work and more responsibilities.  Not good for me.

As I was transitioning from Satellite Engineer to Teacher/Coach I needed some money.  I saw a storage unit facility for sale in my home town and called my friend and Realtor to ask about it.  It was already under contract but we spoke for a few moments and he suggested I read Rich Dad Poor Dad.  I know it is cliche now but this was in 2002 just 4 years after the book was originally published.

I really did feel like everything I had learned was wrong and now I had to change it.  12 Years later in it has finally all sunk in.

I have tried and dabbled in a lot of different things from 2002 to 2014.  I tried two different MLM's.  I don't feel comfortable selling things to my family and friends without first being independently successful at it.  Just a personal preference so MLM's don't work for me.  

I built a highly successful website that focused on regional sports in Northern Michigan and was gaining momentum to be the first to bring ESPN Radio to Northern Michigan when I spoke to the wrong people and all of a sudden a local radio station changed its programming to ESPN Radio and became the new hub for local sports.  Bigger Pockets than mine at the time.

I flipped websites for a while.  That started getting lucrative except for one huge problem.  The only way for my model to make more money was for me to spend more time building the sites.  I looked at hiring programmers, designers, and content producers, but the cost of hiring good ones was about the same as what I could sell a site for.  It just was not scaleable.

Then I read the Four Hour Work Week.  I know how some of you feel about this book but it has really changed how I think about business and the business model.  The book is not about not working but about working on your terms and your time.  It really is the expanded version of the B and I Quadrant from the Cashflow Quadrant.  I read this book so long ago that I had to pre order it from Borders.

Mind Blown, Employee Life Ruined.

I was a Business Coach in Miami FL for 6 months.  That was actually going really well but I was still an employee.  I went there knowing no one and quickly made $30,000 in sales in 4 months.  This was in 2009 probably the bottom for most small business people.  The problem was that the people I was working for were not paying me enough.  I was only making 10% of sales plus $2,000.  That was OK for my training period which would last until I made $50,000 in sales.  Then I found out that once I became a fully certified Business Coach my salary would only increase to $2,500 and still 10% of sales.  So not only would I still be prospecting but I would also be Coaching.  Not enough to live in Miami.  Lesson learned - get it all in writing before beginning.

Success!  I began investing in the stock market and trading Options.  I figured with my Math and Physics degrees I could put them to work and finally start making my money make money.  It works!  However I have not accumulated much money.  Working as teachers my wife and I basically live paycheck to paycheck.  There is not much left over at the end of the month.  We have been working extremely hard to pay off all debt except student loan and mortgage and we have made it.  But now with two small kids they take more money than our debt payments used to.  As a result my trading account is very small.  I average 3% per month but with only $5,000 in the account it is a slow build and not nearly enough to live off of.  So work continues.

Full circle.  In 2013 I decided to give Realtor a try.  I got my license and decided to target Investors as my clientele.  I attended REIA meetings, networked, and proceeded to make $0 in sales.  I had no idea what I was doing.

Spring of 2014 I was a postage stamp away from retiring my Real Estate License when I decided to talk to someone from a different team.  Joe Petno asked me to join his Real Estate Team and for the last two months I have been working for him.  I have more leads than I ever have.  I have not made a sale but I have three prospects who will be making offers by the end of July.  Near success.

I still feel like I am working for someone and not independent in my business model, however I am learning a lot and I see sales coming.

Now I am back to Real Estate Investing.  Here is the reason why:

I cannot get a loan to invest in Stocks and Options.  If I continue to have the success that I have investing in the stock market I can become financially independent in 50 years.  Not going to work.  

Also I cannot quickly build a business and put it on autopilot like I can with a rental property.  

I do have one rental that I am currently living in while we search for a house for my family.  Having property managers does work.  We owned this property in Nashville TN while we lived in Taipei Taiwan for a year and then Miami FL for 6 months.  I had a burst Pipe and it was fixed and all I got was a bill.  The bill was certainly more than I would have paid had I been managing it myself but I did not get a call in the middle of the night, I did not even know about it until I got the bill.

With that said after 3 years of renting we barely broke even.  On the other hand we refinanced in 2007 (good timing) and took out our down payment while avoiding PMI.  The townhouse is now not worth as much as the loan but we also have $0 money in the unit so even $0.01 is an infinite return on capital.

Finally we are to now, July 12, 2014.  I am basically starting my Investing career from zero since we live in our Townhouse.  

The goal is to buy 50 rental units in the next 6 years.  I want each door to average $200 a month net after the 50% rule.  These will primarily be Single Family Homes, Duplexes, Triplexes and even Quadplexes.  They will be in Nashville TN and surrounding area.  I have my specific target area but I am not ready to reveal that right now because I want to keep my competition minimal as I am starting out.  

I will hold these properties for 15 years and then either refinance to pull the equity out or sell them completely depending on the market during that time.  The goal is to net $5,000,000 in 15 years, retire, and live off of the interest that cash will generate.  If the market is good I will keep the rentals, put the business even more on auto pilot and jsut let them run.  I will be 55 and still young enough to have many years of adventures, travel, love, and fun.  I also plan on mentoring new investors and advising others in planning their early retirement.

The difference this time is that I have a plan, or I am making a plan.  That is what I am devoting the weekend to.  The only other time I made a business plan and stuck to it was in developing the Sports Website and ESPN Radio.  I really believe that time I was undercut by the local radio station.  This time I realize that there is plenty of room for everyone.  My specifics will be different from others.  My perfect house will be completely different from other competitors.  My target area will be different from others.  There is always a deal available and there is always someone to buy a house that I find that does not meet my criteria.

Time to end this post.  If you have read to this point thank you and I hope that it was not too boring.  

The rest of my posts will simply be a journal of what I do and am doing day to day.  I will be completely transparent and post all my successes and mistakes.  I love to teach and help and I hope that my journey can help someone overcome inaction and take massive action toward their life goals.  Please please please send me all advice, point out my mistakes or potential mistakes, celebrate my victories with me, and hopefully we can all learn.

Best of Luck Y'All.