I meet people everyday, (a lot of email intro's) asking "how do you find deals?". I rarely respond with anything more than, "time". And its true. I have built a reputation for buying real estate. Everybody knows. Friends, family, skilled trades, realtors, dentist, etc....everyone. Its my passion and what I enjoy, so I talk about it. 

The catch is, everyone thinks because I do it with such ease that its easy. Its not. Parts are "easier" now that I have 1000's of deals under my belt. But the reality is that all time has done is allowed me to move past TONS of failures. Thats the "secret". Its the same in any business; if you try your best and charge forward everyday, in the best of your ability/knowledge, and DO NOT QUIT just because you fail, then you will succeed. 

There are a lot of "failures". Projects I missed out on, deals I lost, clients/property owners who I could never make happy. I didn't quit. I educated myself and got better. I dug in and admitted failures were my own fault, and that I needed to figure this out, to learn, to grow, to really find the winning formula for all parties involved. I learned to focus on my gifts and passions while letting go of the idea of the greatness of things that would never serve me.

Now I get to use my knowledge to serve others, to give benefit that they can see clearly in the results of their project and their bank accounts. I get to be unbiased in giving over the tools that individuals need to succeed in this one little area I happen to be an expert. And I am. Thats been the hardest thing for me to say, ever. I am an expert. Not because I have reached the top of the mountain and can look down on others, but because I now know the risk and navigate my path with passion, experience, and knowledge.

Real estate investing is finance, construction, marketing, development, rules and relationships. Its not just for dudes in suits collecting their monthly checks from the management company. Its building the community I live in; both physical structures and reward from helping individuals who's sole investment happens to be their home, the business owner who just wants to get up and running, to the landlord trying to put her kids through college.