When I entered the world of real estate investing, I thought, “I’m doing this for me”, and I am, but along the way I learned that investing in real estate is a team sport. We learn from each other and lift each other up despite the challenges and despite the criticism, and there is plenty of that. We have all heard the horror stories of investing in real estate. The nightmare tenants, the money-pit properties, and the crashing markets. As a young adult, I heard far too many of these stories firsthand from close family and friends. 

At the time, I was working as an intern architect during the day and volunteering at real estate conferences whenever possible. It seemed, the more interested I became in real estate, the more negative comments I heard from those close to me. But something didn’t add up. The negative stories and discouragement didn’t match what I was hearing from those in the real estate profession. A common thread started to emerge between my career education and my extracurricular activities, “Real estate was getting more expensive”, “Developers are building for more and more density”, and “Soon, young people will not be able to afford a home”. I couldn’t help but think, while sitting in those classes and conference rooms, these “young people” they were speaking about, that was me. Still, I didn’t understand what all that meant. I thought real estate investing was only for rich people, or at least for people who have money to spare. I had none of that. 

I didn’t have money, nor did I have the support or know-how to make such a large commitment. What I did have, and had in spades, was a hard work ethic. So, I kept working. At one point, I was juggling 2-3 jobs steadily between the ages of 22 and 24, not knowing where it would lead me, but thinking one day it would pay off. One morning, while playing hooky from job #1 (I never liked that job) to volunteer at a real estate conference, my brother called me with horrible news. Soon I found myself rushing to a hospital where my father was being treated for a heart attack. Luckily, when I got there, everything was fine, but over the next 2 weeks while my father recovered, I had time and space to think. I had read “all” the books, watched “all” the YouTube videos, and listened to “all” the podcasts. I had built up a significant nest egg over the 3 years of hard work, but more importantly, I made a commitment to take control over my life.