It’s been almost six years since I bought my first duplex. Next door to that there was another duplex I have been eyeing and lusting after for six years. Three years ago a young couple bought it and I befriended them. Whenever they had questions about taxes or anything else real estate, or even just needed a second set of hands to unload materials out of their truck I helped them in any way I could. I tried to pay it forward if I could help. Earlier this year when I did a 1031 exchange for a live in flip I did, I tried to persuade them to sell their duplex me. They politely declined. Since then they’ve bought a couple houses and become engaged. About nine months later they called and said they wanted to sell after all. I secured financing using an owner occupied fifteen percent down loan. The price was 330k, 20k below what my duplex appraised for earlier this summer and the seller agreed to pay most of my closing costs. I just closed this weekend. As a full time employee who does smaller scale investing on the side I sometimes get discouraged when I see others do a bunch of deals and I average one every year and a half. So I want to share this especially for people like me who are still hustling to scale up. Stay resilient and intentional about your goals and your property search criteria. As long as you keep being intentional, your no could become yeses in less than a year. Also even if you at first get a no, keep being yourself and trying to pay it forward. If you don’t take a no personally and stay likable and helpful, you put yourself in pole position to get the first call when the become a yes. So you may be getting closer to your goals than you realize yet. :)