In general, I love to work on and see a project complete successfully. I currently work as an IT computer administrator, and there is a never ending line of projects to complete and I love the feeling of completing them successfully. Thus, I figure that I can carry over that into real-estate. And I can… as soon as I get to the point of working on the (real-estate) project. I have done it on short-sales and I love it when those complete successfully. I have had other short-sales that didn’t complete, but, for the most part, that was Ok, because I fought the good fight: the working of the project was “successful”. My biggest hang-up is getting these things started. Having to market and get the word out and network and door knock and cold call and meet with strangers and convince people to work with me. I obviously can help these people out. I’ve helped other people out already. I have the contacts and resources to make the project successful. But just getting past that “Hi, I’m Dean. We’ve just met me, but…” ARGH! It drive me nuts. It makes me not want to make the call. It makes me not want to go knock doors. I know that if I just do, there are $5000-$10,000+ per month checks waiting for me to cash them. All the pump-you-up hype that every motivational guru out there spews doesn’t get me going. Those $5000, $10,000, $15,000 checks don’t get me going. I should be cranking $100,000+ per year income without a second thought. I know that there are other people that do it; I talk with them regularly. I know what to do and that if I do it, it will be others talking to me about how I do it on a regular basis. I know that if I do this, I won’t have to wake up at 7:30AM every morning to clock-in until 5PM. Yadda, Yadda, Yadda, I know we’ve all heard this stuff a million times before. But why can I not get these things up and running?
I thought that maybe if I can just get people that are motivated to call me instead, that will “break the ice” so to speak. Ya know what happened? I didn’t want to do marketing or advertising. I didn’t want to put up bandit signs. I didn’t even want to go to the store to buy the poster board and magic makers. “What a pain”, I kept thinking to myself. WTF??? It seems, that anything that will make me a piss load of cash, I just can’t seem to get motivated to do it.
Now, take, for example, things that are trivial and valueless. I have no problem going out and renting a movie. I actually look forward to it. I have no problem playing video games. Sometimes, I can’t wait for the next time to play. I have no problem sitting around and being lazy and taking a nap. I have no problem wasting hours at work surfing the internet about things that have no value except maybe rarely on Jeopardy. I can BS with just about anybody about gossip for hours on end. All these things that I have no problem doing, none of them will put food on the table nor pay the bills when they’re due. Anything that does pour in the cash and stuff my wallet, I get this feeling of “What a pain”. Even at my job, I could excel to get promotions, but “What a pain”. I just don’t get it!!! What is my deal???
At one time, I kept default attributing it to my light case of ADD. I have a real short attention span and bore quickly. However, I have met with other entrepeneurs and business owners that claim that its their ADD that keeps them going.
So, I don’t know. I know that the money is sitting just in front of me staring at me. I know that I can do this stuff once it gets going. I know how to talk to complete strangers and network and sell myself about what I can do. I’ve done it all tons of times. But what a pain it is to do anything other than time-wasting recreation. What a pain (it is to collect and cash checks)… Again, wtf??
Hire an assistant. Let them do all the stuff that keeps you from spending all of your time making money. That is what I did. I am great at selling the deal, but I am not so great at all the stuff that comes after that. So I spoke with my boss and we decided that a sales assistant that could call the customer and chase them around for w2’s and pay stubs would free up so much of my time that I should be able to double my production. Now once I get the deal sold I hand it off to my sales assistant Rhonda and she chases the customer around while I am out chasing the next deal. Figure out what it is that you enjoy about your job and focus on that; let someone else focus on the other stuff. Hope this helps.
I’d like to add on to what Dave said-money in and of itself will not grow a successful business. The other key factor is passion. You HAVE to be passionate about what you do to be truly successful. From your post, it doesn’t sound like you’re at all passionate about real estate. I could make a crapload of money as a doctor of medicine, and I know I have the brains to do it, but biology and chemistry bore me to death! I have no passion for science like I do for real estate and entrepenurship. Ya just gotta love what you do and don’t waste your time if you don’t. I know this sounds super-cheesy, but maybe you should get back to your roots and figure out what interested you in REI in the first place. If a big check is the only thing that comes to mind, maybe its time to move on.
This is something I have considered as I’ve worked on real-estate. When trying to find the people that are in default, I can get real passionate about the “hunt”. Trying to track them down, what they paid for their house, where they live now, the chain of title, etc. When some people try and “hide” by shifting stuff around in LLC’s and corporations, and so forth, I get deep down “on the prowl” until I get to that point - “Ah-ha! I found you!” - I totally dig that feeling. One might think that I should delve into being a title officer, but, bleh! how dull! All that paperwork and filing. Not my cup of tea. However, this has gotten me thinking about being a private investigator. Track people down, find them when they’re trying to hide, find what it is they are trying to hide. Bring them in for justice. I’ve also seen those T.V. shows about the people that do repo’s; now that looks exciting! Problem is, though, how do I go from IT computer administrator to private investigator? “Mr. Interviewer, my experience consists of tracking people down, part-time, who have defaulted on their loans” Hahaha! Another problem is that as soon as I hit a major roadblock and can’t track people down anymore, I’m back to that ADD thing again - Ok, I’m bored! Now what?
Anyways, geez, ok, I feel totally gay for dragging you people along on my mid-life crisis soul-search. :redface Someone just shoot be and get it all over with. Haha! :banghead2
Your soul-searching is a totally valid and interesting thread. We all are trying to figure out “How do I make money at something I love doing?”.
Read the other thread on “Strategy”, it’s the same thing.
Back to you…if you can’t make yourself cold call, knock on doors, etc. then JUST DON’T DO IT! No, you can’t make millions doing that because it does not suit your personality.
But you like digging up ownership and doing research. Maybe there is something else in real estate you could be doing. What about keeping your day job, but get a real estate license so you can go out and find those distressed properties and just list them? Then money is going to come in from the selling side and you will get paid. You would also make a great investor real estate buyer’s agent because you have a nose for the good deals and can find them. A real estate assistant will solve the problem of you not wanting to complete the paperwork, etc.
Maybe you can be a forensic computer guy. Why not take an investigator course? Your real estate training is not going to waste, you just need to find out what suits you. Don’t follow anyone’s script except your own.