Real Deal REInvestor Network

       Throughout the years I’ve struggled with myself in the way that I had the habit of starting something and not finishing it. I would make-up excuses and reasons of why I should stop doing whatever I was doing; whether it was a painting I was finishing, landscaping at home, going to college, or even writing a blog. I would always quit before it was time. Perhaps I was settling for what was more comfortable? Maybe I was afraid of success? Or maybe I was just being lazy? Whatever it was, it was draining me physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I would think things like, “What if I sold my painting and someone wanted me to paint 15 more for them? Then I’d really have to hustle and take my hobby more seriously.” Or I would say, “What if I actually do finish college and graduate? Then I’d have to do hours and hours of internships, and then I’d have to go to 500 interviews before someone would finally decide to take a chance and hire me.”
       All of these reasons were negative and pathetic excuses. This way of thinking had been holding me back all my life. I don’t know why I thought this way or what might have happened to me when I was younger to cause me to think so negatively and lack the self-confidence that I needed to excel and see things through. It’s a mystery even to me. But as of this day, I choose to change my way of thinking because ultimately, by the grace of God my way of thinking will change the way I am living.
       This is my Declaration of Independence! A declaration that will now define who I am and who I want to be. For far too long I’ve made decisions where I settled for less. These decisions have not only held me down but have also held down those around me, and those who depend on me. No more. No more procrastinating. No more fearfulness for it is fear that will now be my guide and my motivation.
       This is my declaration of independence! By the end of this year 2011, I will complete the MMM Challenge with HONORS. With the help of my mentors I will close at least 5 wholesale deals (or more!), 2 lease option deals and by end 2012 I will be crushing the local real estate market. I will be living like God intended me to live, and my family and loved ones will see that one does not have to live poorly and miserably for the rest of their lives. They will know that we have a choice and that we can re-define our lives. We have the power to break the mold and we can re-shape out own lives and destinies into whatever we wish them to be-should we make the sincere decision to commit to our own success and happiness.
       This is my declaration of independence! I declare independence from fear, poverty, negativity and all other things that have held me back from true success and brought me down. No more will these people, things, and thoughts govern my life and my destiny. I declare my life my own! I declare my destiny my own! And as such I will shape my life as I see fit, and right now-success seems to fit me pretty darn well.

To Your Success,
Hector Torres

The owner had accepted my offer on his house. He told me it was a little better than the other guy’s—the other investor who had looked at the property the same time I did—and he wanted to work with a smaller company anyway (that would be mine. At one person—me—it couldn’t get any smaller).

Now, I just had a couple problems: 1. How was I going to pay for it, and 2. What was I going to do with it once I had it?

My marketing had outstripped my real estate knowledge (how I wish that was happening now!), and I had a house someone was willing to sell me for the price I’d offered. What to do? 

I started by seeking out an attorney. In litigious New York, I knew that was the first help I needed. 

A little panicked because I had to demonstrate my ability to the homeowner soon, I retained the first attorney I met; a woman in a small office who worked with her husband, ran a boutique real estate office, and assured me she knew all about real estate investing. I foolishly believed her, too. 

Instead of flipping the property for a quick $5,000 to $10,000 (which, had I understood wholesaling at the time, should have been my strategy—and which I could have done without an attorney), my attorney steered me into an outright purchase of the house, two mortgages and all. I was then persuaded to try and rehab it myself with the assistance of her two “handymen” (neither of whom spoke English). I have virtually no “handy” skills myself. 

Eventually we did manage significant improvements to the house, through many wild hand gestures, shouting, and scrawled Spanglish notes to one another. Now I just had to find a retail buyer…. But I’m getting ahead of myself. 

Yes, the house did sell finally, after a stint with a rent-to-own tenant, much marketing, and the realization that I never wanted to sell anything “for retail” again. 

Yet, for some reason that is still not entirely clear to me, when this same attorney asked if I wanted to get my real estate license and work as an agent for her, I agreed. 

Wait. Scratch that. I know why I said yes to her. Because I was scared. Rehabbing the house had drained what little financial resources my wife and I had; we were in debt; and I still felt I didn’t know the first thing about successful investing (nor did my attorney). 

Fast forward…

More than a year and a half later, having earned exactly $0 in commissions (save for about $600 I made renting an apartment), and having been shut out of the sole short sale I steadily worked on for this attorney, I walked away. 

I puttered around, read some books, tried to formulate some plans. Nothing much materialized. In retrospect, there was no reason anything much should have materialized. I was still waiting for something to happen. 

A few months passed; I grew increasingly fearful. I heard through the grapevine about a job working as a copy editor for a website. It was supposed to be part time, maybe 20 hours a week. I could work from home. We needed the money. 

One weekend while my wife and son were out of town, I went, interviewed, and got the job. I started within a few days. 

Soon, a few hours a day turned to eight hours a day. Then ten hours a day. One day—a Christmas Eve—I worked from nine in the morning until almost midnight. It wasn’t that the work was backbreaking, or difficult, or even all that stressful—although I was on a constant deadline. No, the job wasn’t those things. What it was, however, was something that has characterized every job I have ever held: It was soul sucking! I hated it. It took the “me” out of me, and over the course of the near year’s time I was there, my life spiraled downward. 

It was somewhere in there that I almost quit it all. I don’t know what exactly, but I know that a part of me just about gave up on myself completely. I almost gave up on my abilities, on my family, on my future, my entrepreneurial dreams—everything. I really almost lost it all. 

And it was there, when I was at the edge and looking down, that I finally did quit. I quit that miserable job as I had so many others. 

But it wouldn’t be until nearly a couple years later that I’d come to understand why I’d held onto that job so tightly in the face of my disintegrating life, when the thing that I really needed to let go was the easiest to release of all. 

One of the ways I keep myself motivated, inspired and focused is by reading from people that I have adopted as my spiritual mentors. Munson Steed is one of them. I have written and published a piece from Munson Steed before in this blog and I would like to share yet another.

" Proximity with a purpose "

It takes a combination of education, preparation , perserverance and time to reach most goals. A contributing factor of our success is dictated by association. Those fortunate few who have mother wit can forge their own path sans guide, map or soothsayer. The majority of us, however, had better hitch ourselves to a mentor, trainer, teacher, and volumes of books if we hope to attain higher goals. We have to create a network of positive influences to keep our laser beam focused on the end goal.

Supreme Court nominees, Heisman Trophy winners, Nobel Prize winners, stars on the big screen, and individuals with million-dollar product endorsement deals are associated with agents and agencies whose tentacles give them proximity to advancement and success. And the same formual is effective for everyday folks, too. If you want to be in the winner's circle, you have to put yourself in the close proxity to people who know how to win.

There are a myriad of options for building a successful life. Volunteering, Fund-raising, joining professional organizations, attending seminars, and continuously seeking to hone one's skill will pay dividends now and well into the future. We put a downpayment on our future with every book we read, every class we take, every dollar we save and every business we launch. Place yourself in close proximity to people who are already successful as often as possible, their enthusiam is a contagion you want to be infected with.

There are many avenues to economic and spiritual prosperity. We don't have to follow the exact path of our predecessors, but having the benefit of their wisdom is helpful. We do owe gratitude to the ancestors, for it's their shoulders we stand upon today, but it is our children who are owed our best effort. Children learn from and imitate what they observe. If they are not provided models of success outside of gangster-ism and thuggery, how will they know the possibilities available to them? And if they do not learn from us, who will teach the next generation?

Don't limit your scope in life; don't let your power die on the vine. You can change your life daily, hourly, and by the minute, if necessay. And it is necessay. Unlesss you have accomplished everything you set out to do on this journey, then you have some work ahead of you. But it is not impossible to get there. Small ones watching our struggle deserve to know they can win. Let's leave more than a footstool for our children to stand on. Let's create a new history and gift our children with closer proximity to greatness. Peace"


Thanks for your inspiration Munson.


Best,
Andy G. Rodie

The Bible states that the good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. (Lu 6:45)

People will say, think and often do accordingly to what's in their heart/spirit (controled by their unbridled emotions and enviroment),  our upbringing, what we are exposed to, what we read, watch on TV, people we associate with everyday!

The road blocks we encounter along the way are the result of the conditioning of our minds, Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:2

Certaily anything that has been learned can be unlearned, that's what James Allen was referring to, as the mind as a garden cultivated everyday, pulling weeds out, trimming, fertilizing , planting good seeds so they produce good fruit, Jesus said "Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. Mat 12:33

For what reason?

We become good trees or persons so we  can provide good shade?...heavens NO!

We cultivate our talents and our mind so we can bear good fruits, its just like the tasks that we do everyday in the Tripple MII challenge, so we can yield great results and can teach others , leave a legacy, just like our directors and creators of the Challenge are doing now!

Therefore we can speak our future into existence, not merely speaking great and mighty things, but acting on them with purpose and systematically will yield the desired effects...Because faith without works is death, and by the renewal of our minds every single day we keep our garden in tip top shape, bearing good fruits!

Because doing fruit bearing tasks every day will keep the weeds out, like reading at least 15 minutes a day, reading your affirmations as you raise in the morning and before you lay your head to rest, associate with like minded peeps, spending quality time with your family, if you are a Christian praying for your country, City, for others, and of course for your family and yourself and do this with a smile on your face, watch, read uplifting funny movies/books!

But remember all the applied knowledge in the world won't mean a thing at the end of your life...What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? Luke 9:25

A friend of mine just sent me an e-mail and what is still EDGED in my mind is this

It's true, what you know means very little in the long run, and means even less still, when you don't have God in your everyday life. It's the Who you know that will make the biggest difference of all.  

My hope is that you can Live Connected with God each and every day!

That's just a minor detail with eternal consequenses that James Allen left out of his book!

If would like to download the e-book click the following link
http://hisrealestatenetwork.com/James-Allen-As-A-Man-Thinketh%20Free%20Ebook.pdf

            At first I saw God as my observer, as my judge keeping track of the things I did wrong, so as to know if I merited Heaven or Hell when I die. He was out there sort of like the president- I recognized His picture when I saw it , but I really didn't know Him. But later on when I met Christ, it seemed as though life were rather like a bike-ride. But it was a tandem bike, and I noticed that Christ was at the back helping me peddle. Now, I don't know just when it was that He suggested that we switch places, but life has not been the same since.

               When I had control I knew the way. It was rather boring, but it was predictable. It was the safest and shortest distance between two points. But when He took the lead, He knew delightful LONG-cuts. Up mountains and through rocky places, at break-neck speeds, it was all I could do to hang on! Even though it looked like madness he said, "Peddle! Peddle!!"

               I worried, I was anxious, and I asked, "Wh-where are you taking me!?"  He laughed and didn't answer. And so I started to learn to trust Him and soon I forgot my boring life and entered into-His adventure. When I'd say, "Hey, I'm scared!" he'd lean back and touch my hand.

                He took me to people with gifts I needed, gifts of healing, acceptance, and joy. They gave me gifts to take on my journey. My Lord's and mine, and we were off again. He would then say, "Hey give those gifts away now, they're extra baggage! Too much weight!" and so I did and gave them to the people we met along our journey, and I found that in giving- I received; and still our burden was light.

    I didn't trust Him at first, in control of my life. I thought he'd wreck it! But he knows bikes secrets. He knows how to make it bend to turn sharp corners. He knows how to make it jump to clear high rocks, and he even knows how to fly to shorten scary passages.

Now I'm learning to shut-up and peddle in the strangest places, and I'm beginning to enjoy the view and the cool breeze on my face and my delightful constant companion-Jesus Christ. And when I'm sure I just can't do it anymore - He just smiles and says, "Peddle! Peddle!"

 

By: Rev. Chuck Swindoll

 

I want to share some insights from entrepreneur Jay Goltz that would be helpful to all us going forward. Make it a great day. . Look for opportunities to do something better than just about everyone else. 2. Accept risk as a necessary evil. It makes for much less competition. 3. Act responsibly to customers, employees and vendors. 4. Goals aren’t enough. You need a plan. You need to execute the plan. 5. You need to fix the plan as you go. Learn from your mistakes. Most people don’t. 6. Do not reinvent the wheel. Learn from others — join a business group. 7. Make sure the math works. I know plenty of people who work hard and follow their passion but the math doesn’t work. If the math doesn’t work, neither does the business. 8. Make sure that every employee understands and works toward the mission. 9. There are going to be difficult times and you need to be resilient; whining is a waste of time. 10. There will be sacrifices. Work to find a balance so that you don’t become a financially successful loser. It’s not about the income, it’s about the outcome. Best, Andy Rodie

It's another excellent day in rainy South Florida. I wanted to create another blog stating some action steps I took based on Gary Tharp tips "14 successful tips on commercial real estate investing". As I was showing property today to one of my real estate buyers, I said to myself, "when I'm done, I'm going to call some of these vacant commercial properties I see in my local area". So for the last couple hours, I've been driving in my area looking for highly vacant properties with the for sale or for lease signs on them. Out of the 5 I saw today, I spoke to one owner. It's off 11th street and highly vacant.

To give you an idea of the vacancy. Out of the 14-15 available units, only two were occupied. This is a retail center. So I called the owner and said, "Hello, my name is Dara and I'm highly interested in your property. I was driving by and notice that you are looking to lease the property, it that correct? The owner said yes. I then said, what are you looking to get for the property and owner said, I don't have time for this right now and I said Sir, I have access to investors that may be interested in your property and I'm looking to help you out. The owner said, I know that it's highly vacant so if you want to make an offer then send it and I will look over it. I just agreed and wrote down all his information".

The reason why I did this is to see the response and get the feeling of what a commercial owner would say and based on Gary Tharp tips, it's better to take action and get in the game because it's a learning curve until I get better and have more experience. I love the feeling of what I accomplished today. The point I'm trying to make is do what it takes to make things happen. If real estate investing is your passion and desire along with motivation and determination to get better along the way sprinkled with learning and action steps which equals success. Then do what it takes!!

I hope I'm able to motivate others to do the same as well as think positive. We will make mistakes but hey, keep at it. Be bless and until time.

"People first, then money, then things, now you stay safe" - Suze Orman


Dara C