What was the deciding factor to buy your first property?

I remember it was 2004 i was a very young man hanging “outside “ making money. A guy by the name of Beyond Wynn who is a big guru in the Cleveland market now, but at the time he was not and he had purchased and flip two properties on the street I hung out on. My best friend pulled up on beyond and wanted to change his life and asked Beyond to show him the “real estate game.” 

He showed my friend how to purchase his first property ,my friend comes and gets me and we are walking his property and at that moment I felt so inspired to buy my own property. After I left him I rounded up my money and purchased my first property a couple months later in 2005 a duplex smacked dab in the hood. lol I purchased it for $18k put put $22k in it rented out out for 8 months and turned around and sold it $88k. 

For my old school investors tell me what made you initially pull the trigger?