My blog post aims to give you a glimpse into the freedom you can create for yourself when you take the right steps.
The Beginning of The End
Waiting for my weekly pay call on a muggy Friday afternoon in coastal North Carolina, I finally heard the phone ring, but what I heard next was alarmingly unexpected. As Director of Marketing and Sales for a resort development, and also a Realtor at the time, I collected money from developers; since we were in the start-up phase of our project, they relied upon bank draws to pay me. Picking up the phone, I assumed the developer was calling to deliver my check, as usual.
“Kyle, how was your week?” asked Bill.
Usually, Bill would have known exactly how my week had gone. For the previous two years, we had worked side-by-side 60 to 70 hours a week in bringing our project to life.
“Amazing!” I replied, still riding high on the buzz from the birth of my daughter; my first- born child had come into the world on Monday, only four days prior. In the delivery room with my wife and the doctor, I spent the entire eight hours holding a leg, coaching my wife and right before my eyes, life began!
I saw the first breath, heard the first cry, and even cut with my own hands the connection from mother to child. So you can just imagine, I wasn’t exaggerating when I said to Bill that I was having an “Amazing week; by far, the best and most amazing week of my life.” Nor did I know how right I was.
The End of the Line
“I’m glad you had a good week,” Bill came back. “And I hate to tell you this now, but we don’t have any money in the account.”
Thinking it was probably just delayed as usual, I asked, “When do you think the bank will release the money?”
But the gravity of his tone spoke volumes when he replied, “I don’t know. As of right now, it looks doubtful.”
He was right; the money wasn’t coming. Because of the tightening credit markets, the bank had begun refusing to release funds, cutting off the budget for marketing – namely, me.
During that phone call – those few seconds – my life changed forever. I felt crushed, terrified, powerless. How would I support my new family? My precious wife and girl depended on me, me entirely. How would I ever start back up as a Realtor in the worst housing market since the Great Depression? Wasn’t I already a casualty of that nightmarish market?
Dazed and numb, that afternoon I sat with my mother-in-law and my exhausted wife –who, by this point, already hadn’t slept for several nights – to explain to the two women what I had just heard from Bill.
It felt like I was dreaming, like none of it was real; I remember wishing I would soon wake up to find myself comfortably asleep on my $10k monthly cushion. Any second, things would go back to normal; we’d all wake up from a nasty dream.
But it was no dream. Seriously stressing, we all sat in a quiet circle and, at the pit of despair, reflected on our doom.
My Re-Birth
I now look back on that life-changing afternoon and realize that the job I thought I couldn’t live without was, in reality, the only thing holding me back from truly living. Like a prisoner, I marched the same daily march through my habits, working almost every day, trading my time – the most precious thing we have – for money.
Although I didn’t realize it right away, Bill’s phone call had snipped my umbilical cord, and like my daughter, I was beginning new life. At that moment I had no idea, but Bill’s news had freed me forever.
My blog post aims to give you a glimpse into the freedom you can create for yourself when you take the right steps and follow your passion to invest in real estate. My rebirth spawned a significant amount of wealth. Since that life changing week, I went on to purchase 29 houses in 24 months using none of my own money.
What is Your Re-Birth Story?
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