Me and my father, Jonathan, started studying Dean's training materials as partners almost a year ago. Since then we have set up an automated 1 800 number, handed out tons of business cards, even submitted a few offers, as well as implemented several of Deans other strategies. We have been documenting our work and coordinating through Microsoft office live and over the phone since he drives a semi-truck for a living. I am making a living as a custodian currently, however if you ask me what I do, I'll tell you "I'm a real estate investor," with a confident smile then hand you a business card. I'm also the husband of the most beautiful lady ever, and the proud father of 2 year old and 8 month old girls. Until now we have not been able to flip any properties, but we will never give up. Especially since that will change very soon.
Why am I just starting to blog now? Why am I so confident that I will flip my first house in the next 30 days? The simple answer is that even after studying the Edge materials and reading Dean's books I am still having a hard time targeting the right houses and assembling a team. So we have decided that the only ingredient missing from our success is one on one coaching and so we are joining the success academy.
So if you took the time to read my first post here, please stay tuned to watch a highly motivated 25 year old family man go from broke with bad credit to financial freedom as I plan on documenting the transformation here.
Also I am already a member of middle TN investor group but I live in East TN and I am sure there are others in my area since I have seen their signs that seem to come straight out of Dean's book. So with that said I would like to start an East Tennessee Real Estate Investor group. I am not sure if I am allowed, or how to do that though so any help would be appreciated.
I apologize for the size of this post and assure all audiences that further posts won't be quite so wordy.
Thanks, and stay tuned for more from Mr. Purple REI! 
Who is Dean Graziosi?
Are People Actually Successful?
Does Dean Practice What He Preaches?
What Deals Are The Students Doing Right Now?
First Day
Had a great day at work today, then was eager to get home and get started with the Success Academy training. I have to work a double shift tomorrow and Saturday, so I wanted to get as much studying done as possible. I found the classroom to be very informative and learned a lot today about Marketing and building lists and about building my power team. I am so excited! This is exactly the kind of training Ive been needing to really get this ball rolling. So now that I've finished optimizing my PC so it would quit freezing up on me, and finished the first lesson, it's time TAKE ACTION! YAY! Now I know where to start from the Actions part at the end of the lesson. Have a great day tomorrow everybody cause I have to quit blogging now and get started on those tasks. lol I may be a little tired tomorrow at work but ill be happy in the knowledge of a brighter future coming asap.
Second Day
Well I had a really long day at work, but I got my buyer targeting voicemail setup when I got home then practiced some structured networking on DG.com by following up on my first few PMs and creating an east Tennessee investors group. Also, when I came in, I was extremely excited to see my wife had started going through the academy lessons and was further along than I was! LOL! I'm going to go catch up with her on those, because it's almost 2:00 am and Ive got to study if I'm going to get any done before I have to go pull ANOTHER double shift tomorrow. Yuk! Oh well, maybe the extra hours can go towards some extra marketing tools.
Good night, and God bless all the DG family. Thank you very much to those who PMed me today, (well its yesterday now. lol) it really made my day a good one in spite of having to clean toilets all day.
Third Day
Last night I came in from work and added all the contacts I had from research into a database formed from converting the Qualifying Investors worksheet into a word document. I found that I had over 15 wholesale buyers names and numbers already! I also found two in the DG family. So I am very excited to start calling them Monday after work. I also made a script from Dean's book "Profit from Real Estate Right Now" which is for contacting REAs. To see which ones will be most investor friendly. Then listed all the agencies in my neighborhood so I could just fill in their responses below each agency. So I should have at least 5 - 10 qualified wholesalers criteria and at least one agent added to my Power team by Tuesday! 30 days to my first flip HERE I COME!
You should be scared.
I haven't been on for a few days because, well, when it rains, it pours electrifying acid! LOL In other words, all heck has been breaking loose for me and that gets me really excited.
Why? Because that means Satan is freaking terrified. I know because he's been trying to keep my family in bondage to a corrupt system that only lets us survive(not thrive) for generations. I am breaking that curse right here and now and I'm going to use real estate to do it. So all I have to say to him is "You should be scared."
I am so sick and tired of my life consisting of either putting out fires or just being glad there weren't any for one day.
Isn't that why any one would start a real estate investing career? It's not about the money, that's just a means to an end. It's really about the freedom to enjoy this life God has given us without having to be slaves and be away from our family half our life's. The freedom from worry/fear of debt, late bills, and living paycheck to paycheck. It's about the opportunity to live abundantly and that is what He wants for those who trust and obey Him.
So the point is we all have something in common here at DG.com, we want more than to just get by. I think every one here would agree that they want to leave a legacy for some reason. For me, I want to leave a legacy for my children. I want to be able to educate them myself instead of sending them to a government institution (school) that indoctrinates them on how to either "get by" or bury their conscious so deep they don't even know why they were born with one.
As if those were their only two options. I refused to believe that my whole life, and I will never stop working to find a way out of that trap our society has built to make slaves or criminals of us all.
Thank you to any one who reads this rant. It's just my way of reminding myself what I stand to loose. After a very frustrating and discouraging week, this is one way to get my head "back in the game"
YES!!
I found my star agent today!
After I went through the SA lessons on Power Team and Networking I found out that 60% of deals that close started from networking (their power team)
So this is the key ingredient that's been missing from my enterprise to get the "ball rolling"
It's also been one of the big things that I was nervous about starting. So today I really kicked it in high gear to get out of work an hour early. Now business hours aren't an excuse not to call.
So I started calling Agencies in my area and met a sweet lady who is willing to help out a newbie! MAN I'm so stoked right now!
At the same time for the past few weeks I have been researching and running comps on a particular property.
So since my last post I found my niche or USP. I have not only found an agent willing to work with us but also have a sweet deal in my sights as well as discovered a strategy that is unique and lucrative.
Proof that perseverance pays off. Well it may be circumstantial to be sure, but the first deal IS coming before the end of next month. One way or another.
Past, present, future.
I was catching up on some training within the archives stored here on DG.com and found a conference call that explained how to use Craigslist to find motivated sellers in my area. I used Joe's system and sent out about 20 emails to estate auction adds and even tried to establish a relationship with a couple of the estate liquidators here in Chattanooga. This is an example of a typical night for me. I will stay up till 2-3 am looking for anything I can do to find my first deal and make it happen. Right now I'm going on 6 hrs of sleep for the past 48 hrs. I can sleep when I'm dead. Right now its time to break free.
I have also found and joined the two closest REI groups near me, but neither have any meetings in the near future.