Self Motivation (Long, Long) - Posted by Tom (W-Atl Ga)

Real Estate Investing
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Posted by Tom on October 02, 2001 at 07:11:32:

Thanks for the comments. And I do believe that a specific written plan is a very important piece (if not the most important piece) of the puzzle. I do have the plan and have already put it into motion. I just thought with what I have already written in the above post, it would have been twice as long. THe plan I have started implementing is nothing new. It is no different than anything that has been stated or advised on this board. Particualr road map that I have chosen to get started in is rehabs. I have spent the last two months getting my ducks in a row so to speak by speaking with various banks, general contractors (although I plan on doing some of the work myself to start), realtors and various investors in my area. I have a mortgage broker that is has gotten me a line of credit for my first project (she says will be increased as my experience increases), I have a realtor that has already brought 2 progjects to me that my offer was accepted. After rehabs and the various holding costs, I will be in them at about 75 - 80% LTV (this does not the ‘cushion’ I figured in). The rehabs will take about about 2 months to complete. To give me assistance, I have a close relative that used to build houses up until 20 years ago when he was disabled, who is going to oversee the remodeling of these projects for me (at no cost).

In my previous post, I did mention two goals. THose tow are actually results of more specific goals that I have set for myself. I have a 90 day, 120 day, 180 day and a one year set of goals. These are specific goals that I would ike to be at. The goals include number of projects that make sense, number of contact I wold have already made, etc.

Phil I do appreciate your posting, as I do all the others here. There are two others that come to mind though, that I think have done more for me than I can thank them for. Nothing that they have done for me specifically, but the time that they take out to help everyone here. JPiper and Ed Garcia are truly gems of this board.

Again thanks and God Bless

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Self Motivation (Long, Long) - Posted by Tom (W-Atl Ga)

Posted by Tom (W-Atl Ga) on October 01, 2001 at 17:31:53:

I must warn those of you that are reading this, this is a long posting. It asks or answers no questions, but merely allows myself to express to everyone that wishes to read this what I, as an individual, have come to realize about myself. This posting is more for myself than for anyone else, I suppose. So, if no one read it, or if it gets deleted, I fully understand. To me, just by writing it, reading, it and printing it, it has already served its purpose.

I would like to thank everyone on this site for all of their guidance and advice. Why it has taken me this long to even take the first step, I don’t know. I am one of the many that has been guilty over the years of buying courses, books, reading material, etc and just letting them sit on my shelves. That is right! I use ‘shelves’ in the plural sense in that my material that I have purchased over the years completely fill up two four-foot shelves.

I would learn techniques and procedures on how to succeed in this business. However, almost simultaneously, I would manufacture reasons and excuses why ‘I Can Not Succeed.’ I have just recently discovered that it was I defeating myself and not the business defeating me.

But there is something that I have discovered recently that I firmly believe has resulted in myself not even coming up to the plate. I have been coming to this site for the last 3 years. I have read, as well as everyone else here, that this business is based on motivated sellers. I have actually known that fact for even longer. But, and a very big BUT, I have also discovered that as motivated as the sellers are, there must be motivated buyers or investors. This motivation of course is very different between the sellers and investors. Without this motivation, or sense of urgency, an investor / buyer would just be inclined to watch from the sidelines.

I have come to realize that I have lacked this motivation. I have not had the urgency to achieve any type of financial gain. It really has not been any lack of knowledge that has held me back. Don’t get me wrong. I have always had a desire to have money. I have always dreamed of what I would buy if I had cash in the bank to spend on specific luxuries (i.e., what cars I would buy, how big my house would be, type of boat, etc). The problem that I am discovering is that by dreaming like this no matter what type of car I would buy, house I would buy, boat I would buy, I would never be satisfied and it would never be enough, and I would still be treading water. These types of possessions and purchases and dreams are by no means wrong, but they should be a result of my works, not the motivation for my works.

It is this newfound motivation that I truly believe that will push me through. As to what my motivation is, I have two pictures that I have tacked in a conspicuous place that I have to look at every morning. When I see these pictures it reminds me of what I am giving up on if I decide to quit and fail. In the past it was very easy to fail for myself. But I can?t possibly fail my goals that I have set for myself now. The two pictures are of my six month old son and my Dad. This is where my motivation lies.

As for my short term goals that I have set, they may seem pretty minor to each of you, but to me, if I can obtain them I will feel that I have reached a major plateau. Simply stating, it is my first goal to provide a good first Christmas for my son and my family. By no means are we living in poverty at this time, but for a short term goal, it would mean a lot to me if there were no worries as to what bill would be delayed, or my wife and myself not buying for each of us or additional family members.

My second goal would be to attempt to try to express my gratitude for my parents for everything that they have done for me over the years. I am very close to my parents and am very grateful for them. They have very consistently worked 50-60 hours/week (blue collar at that) providing the ?needs and a lot of the wants? for my other brother and sister over the years. It seems every year that my dad goes and window shops the car lots wanting to buy that new pickup truck. And every year he decides that he can afford the pickup, but it would mean his kids (myself, my brother and sister) and my mom may do without. To this day, he is still driving the 1977 Chevy pickup that he bought new (actually, this is the last auto he bought for himself 25 years ago). If I could buy him that new pickup truck as insignificant as it may sound, would mean a great deal to me.

I might have contradicted myself when I say that material possessions should not be my motivation to enter this business. I still stand by that statement. My motivation is not the material possessions, but the pride and joy that I will feel when I see my wife not cry when she pays the bills each month worrying what we will do for Christmas. It will be the pride and joy that I will feel when I see my dad sit in the cab of his new truck when I tell him that this is just a small token of what he and Mom has done for me over the years.

Again, I apologize for the length; it was not my intention to write a dissertation or a novel. I was just afraid that if I did not make any statement, that it would be far to easy to pretend that I never started this trek. Now, having stated all this, I can?t go back. I have to succeed.

God Bless

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Check out www.gareia.org !!! - Posted by jc (Atlanta)

Posted by jc (Atlanta) on October 03, 2001 at 24:12:22:

Tom, like yourself and others, it has taken me almost 20 years to finally do something about getting into real estate as an investor. I’ve just recently bought my first fixer-upper to live in, rehab, and hopefully make a nice profit on in two years. At the worst, I will rent it out and let someone else pay for my equity in it!

Since you are in Atlanta, I will recommend Ga. Real Estate Investors Assocation - their web site is found at http://www.gareia.org. Once I discovered the hidden gold mine of attending the various sub-group meetings at GaREIA, I found a lot of motivation from seeing quite a few people that are actually “making it” through real estate investment. I know for a fact that I have talked with, and been taught by, several millionaires at GaREIA.

Check out their next meeting, you might find that additional movitation, not to mention the tools, you’ll need to get your dad that pickup truck one day!

Best of luck to you!
James Christian Deen

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My .02. Fight or Flight - Posted by Rolfe Kurtyka (Mpls/StP)

Posted by Rolfe Kurtyka (Mpls/StP) on October 02, 2001 at 17:20:39:

Tom;

Great work! You know where you’re coming from. I’m sure all of us have been in your shoes in one way or another.

When faced with a challenge, all God’s creatures make a basic, instinctive, instantaneous choice. Fight or flight - which will it be? The decision has to come without thought. It must be instantaneous. One moment of hesitation may mean the difference between life and death.

When I studied karate, we learned a ancient word (which I no longer remember!) which actually defined that moment of hesitation, a word which the Samurai new meant life or death. In that world, one has to know what to do, not think about it. That’s one of the reasons karate is practiced so repetitively. So when the moment comes, there is no hesitation.

When we procrastinate, or simply stay in a place which is not where we want to go, I believe we are choosing the flight mode. It’s often easier not to act than it is to take action. The pain of flight, or inaction, somehow feel less than the pain of fight, or action.

Often, that instinct may indeed be the best choice. It keeps us alive and well. At least until we are ready to enter the battle.

As life goes on, the stakes change. Where before we could out run our pursuers, we now need to turn and fight. Perhaps now we have parents or children who cannot run like we can, or we have a home territory worthy of protecting. So we turn toward our fear and we fight. We protect and preserve ourselves so we can protect and preserve our loved ones.

We take action, we fight.

Good Luck! Rolfe

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Re: Self Motivation (Long, Long) - Posted by phil fernandez

Posted by phil fernandez on October 01, 2001 at 19:57:11:

Tom,

What I see from your post is that you might have some motivation, but you don’t have a specific plan. And by plan I mean not only an overall plan, but a detailed plan with goals that you can set up on a daily basis which you could accomplish. The one small step leads to bigger steps in the future and will eventually get you to your real goal down the road a bit.

Write your goals down on paper and refer to them daily. In fact maybe several times a day. You have the knowledge, you just need a specific road map. All of the successful investors that I have run across are very goal orientated.

As I’ve always said, this real estate investing is a journey. It’s not a job, it’s a lifestyle. And a pretty good one at that.

Good luck to you.