The Story of The Investing Realtor
In high school, were you the big man on campus (watch my high school football highlight film… below) or the Queen Bee?
Was there ever a time in your life when you told yourself, “I want to be a person of success?”
I did before my leg injury at Purdue. Recently, I found a saying by Albert Einstein that has changed my whole paradigm. He said, “Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man of value.”
For years, I’ve been focusing on being a man of success, bouncing from one thing to another. Even though, I earned a full-ride scholarship to Purdue University. Since 2004, I’ve spent over $40,000 in the Entrepreneurial Program of The School of Hard Knocks.
It all started from an associate at church who was a real estate agent, who had four investment properties, two kids, and a wife that didn’t work. He was seemingly able to live beneath his means and provide for his family.
In 1999, when my wife and I got married, we agreed that to have a lifestyle that was able to live off only $60K a year… and this guy was doing what we wanted to do.
Our goal was not just earn $60K, we’ve surpassed that. We just don’t want to have our household expenses to surpass that. We didn’t want to be like the majority of hundred-thousandaires… big house, big cars, big pool… no furniture, no gas, and no water to swim in.
How To Choose Or Pick A Realtor Partner
I talk to this guy extensively. He convinced me that real estate was the way to go. Not that it was going to be easy, but I could rely on him to show me the ropes.
What intrigued me the most was the ability to create passive income by renting out property. I saw what he was doing and it didn’t look to hard. Buy a property in such a way that someone else makes the mortgage payments and puts a little change in your pocket.
I was like, teach me that! I want to be a real estate investor.
In August of 2003, I earned my real estate license. My goal was to partner with him and we were going to make things happen. His experience and my marketing knowledge and education.
I knew I didn’t know much about real estate. But from my experience in being a star football athlete, I knew the importance of coaching. I believed in being on a team. Being young and only a few years out of Purdue, I believed in what passionate people told me.
However, it doesn’t matter how many books you read (and I have a small library) you have to go through some tough personal experiences to sand-off that innocent naive smile. After a painful rub-down the Guns-N-Roses song, “Welcome To The Jungle” makes sense.
Do or Don’t. There is no try.
Kendall Matthews, vp of The Do
