I don't know what your big why is for pursuing financial freedom through real estate, but I can tell you for me, it's being able to be with, support and love my two amazing sons, of whom I am proud beyond measure. While I would describe the relationship with my own dad during my teen years as rocky and rebellious, I now realize how much love, and all the amazing gifts he gave so selflessly to me. Brings to mind something Mark Twain is reputed (though actually not) to have said… "𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯, 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺-𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴." Whether you have kids or not, take a moment to appreciate at least one little thing your father gave you.

It takes a sharp eye to catch all of the pitfalls you can run into with a fixer. This is where a good checklist comes in. We all have blind spots, and some can be massive profit killers. Like the one I didn't catch until I walked the property today. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗽𝗵𝘆𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗽𝗶𝘁. - The right checklist helps you see a realistic picture. - It gives you negotiating power. - And it boosts your confidence in making decisions, whether in favor or against making buying decision. Take a look at this video and see if you can guess the one thing I hadn't noticed until my walkthrough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXySUmVnIQ4

"𝘐𝘧 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘨, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨." ~ Mark Twain In his famous book, 𝘌𝘢𝘵 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘨!: 21 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘞𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘎𝘦𝘵 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘋𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘓𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦, business coach and author Brian Tracy outlines a simple habit most people won't do. Today, I was faced with three conversations I was imagining would be tough. And they were! But I got through them and, and as one my mentors, the great Ron LeGrand would say, "Nobody died." 𝗚𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗦𝗧. If you find yourself not being as productive as you like, look at your to-do list. Are getting the hardest, scariest, yet often most productive things done, or do they keep getting put off? "Eating that frog" first thing in the day harnesses your energy at its daily peak. Once out of the way, the rest of the day seems easier. And perhaps most importantly, it boosts your confidence that you can do the seemingly impossible. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨?

If you haven't heard it yet, you probably will at some point soon: "Get a great deal under contract and the money will come." It's what I call the "Field of Dreams" approach after the movie of the same name, in which the protagonist played by Kevin Costner hears a voice whisper, "If you build it, he will come," referring to disgraced ballplayer Shoeless Joe Jackson. Actually, it's true. Having an amazing deal under contract will make the dispo process MUCH easier. But having a solid bench of ready, willing and able buyers at your twitching fingertips makes knowing what a great deal is and isn't also makes the whole process go easier. Getting a deal under contract at too high of a price will kill your chances of being able to flip it fast. And the best way to gauge price is by knowing what your buyers will buy before putting the deal under contract. Of course, if you set it up right, you can back out or renegotiate during your due diligence. But it's SO much more fun to get the number right from the get-go. How do you find buyers for your deals?