Throughout my adult life, I have worked an endless string of dead-end jobs ranging anywhere from waiting tables at Denny’s, to selling vitamins on the phone, to owning a chain of tanning salons. I didn’t see myself become a real estate investor at the time. Most of the jobs in my past paid okay, but they were unrewarding and required me to work overtime. I went from job to job searching for something that I could really sink my teeth into without much success. I thought I had found it with the tanning salons. As it turned out, I was tied to the salon seven days a week. Every weekend when one of my girls called in sick, guess who had the privilege of working? Right… me! I got to the point where I hated the business because of the insane hours.
At the age 29, I was married, had a baby on the way, and life was looking good. Nevertheless, things happened, and a year later, I found myself single-handedly raising an eight-month old daughter and going through a divorce. Life as a single mom had definitely not been in my game plan! I needed to go back to work, but the idea of leaving my daughter in day-care, working for someone else all day, and then paying my hard-earned money to the day-care center, was unacceptable. This just wasn’t the sacrifice I was willing to make! I needed an NEW game plan and quickly.
As fate would have it, around this time I met a group of people who seemed to be leading a leisurely life… golf everyday, always travelling, constantly going out, and spending money freely. You name it, they were doing it. It turns out they were real estate investors. I knew I had found the answer to my prayers. Being a real estate investor would allow me the freedom to work from home and raise my daughter myself. I learned as much as I could and went for it.
I bought my first dump and went to town! I became such a “regular” at Home Depot – the helpers would run from me. They knew if they stopped to answer “just one quick question,” I would keep them for an hour asking details about my next step of rehab. I took all the weekend classes they offered, learned what I could, and got my rehab underway. I did all the work on the property myself: paint, tile, and plumbing. You name it – I did it. I started to see a light at the end of the tunnel. The more I worked, the better my property looked. After the repairs were completed, I put the house on the market, sold it four days later, made over $20,000 on my first transaction, and never looked back.
Being a real estate investor has been such an incredible life-changing opportunity for me, and the past few years have been truly blessed! I met a wonderful man at a real estate seminar and we got married! Along with Bill, came two bonus kids. Now we are a family of five having a blast together. I have never been happier!
I cannot wait for YOU to get started! For each of you reading this – especially parents – you owe it to yourself and your kids to live the American dream. If you are like me, you won’t regret one single day in the business. You might even find the perfect mate!
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