Well, hello! It's been a while since my last post. Sorry about that! When I started this blog, The IOR, I was thinking about publishing about every 2 weeks. After a few posts, that seemed to be too frequent, so I was going to dial down to monthly. What I am thinking now is every 6 to 8 weeks. I like leaving space between posts so folks can ruminate on the content, figure out how it applies to them, and determine where in their life there might be an opportunity. So, going forward, you can expect something new every 6 to 8 weeks! Of course, feel free to reread, reshare, and reapply anything from the previous posts. Also, remember, if you join my site or subscribe, you will be notified when I post. Additionally, I share links to the posts on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, so sharing my posts across your networks is much appreciated.
Enough with the updates - let's get to some IOR thoughts. Picking up from the last post, let's talk about the dreaded Ds of disappointment, discouragement, and detours. You might remember that we were thinking about vision and/or calling in the prior post - seeing the future, taking action, and having conviction. The premise in that post was that disappointment, discouragement, and detours will come your way. However, clarity in your vision or calling will help you navigate through the dreaded Ds.
Let me use a real-life example to clarify this while also setting up the next topic. Here we go...
I've been very blessed to have a great career in Banking, primarily in Credit Cards and other forms of Unsecured Lending products. I've worked for great companies, with great leaders and with so many smart and talented colleagues that I would be hard pressed to list them all. However, all during my career, I have also had an entrepreneurial spirit that wanted to do more, with an interest in real estate investing. Like most people that are not real estate professionals, my earliest forays into real estate were with my primary residence. I started with a condo when I was 24 years old and moved up over the years to a nice 4-bedroom house in the suburbs of Baltimore. However, during those years, I was always looking, thinking, and contemplating how I could do more, and how real estate could work for me - not just as a home, but also as an investment. Well, in late 2007/early 2008, I felt that it was finally time to try my hand at this. Keep in mind, I was now 43 years old - it took a while for my actions to catch up with my view of the future and my convictions (there is a lot to talk about those 19 years, but let's just say that it was a period of dreaming about what to do and a time to figure out how to do it). After much thought and contemplation, I decided that buying, rehabbing, and renting homes in Baltimore City would be a great way to make real estate work for me. Well, I will not go into all the details, but let's just say that the dreaded Ds of disappointment, discouragement and detours became abundantly clear to me, as the housing crisis and collapse of 2009 ushered in a recession, taking what I thought was a smart move for my future to a 10-year journey of figuring out how to liquidate these investments without totally jeopardizing my banking career. Talk about disappointment, discouragement, and detours!! I had all 3 in an abundance.
So, was my vision wrong? Was real estate inherently a bad investment? Of course not! Real estate has been a key component of so many thriving investment portfolios, that real estate wasn't the problem. My Ds came from a few miscalculations and just pure bad timing. The bigger question was, will I let the Ds derail the vision I had as a real estate investor? Well, let me tell you, it wasn't easy to dip my toe back in that water, but by 2015, I was willing to try my hand in another real estate venture. This time, it was different from rentals in the city, but it felt equally as risky. Still, I did it...I didn't let the Ds derail the vision. So, here I am at 57 years old...I suffered through each of the Ds, continued to preserve because of clarity of vision, and now I'm involved in several aspects of using real estate as a key component of my investment portfolio. I'm smarter from what I went through - I learned great (and hard) lessons and I'm focused. No, I'm not a real estate professional, I'm still a Banker running a credit card and personal lending business. But my real estate activities are a key component of my investment strategy to provide for my future. Harness the power of overcoming the Ds, and it can take you even beyond your vision.
Thanks, again, for taking a few minutes to read this. If you like it, please share across your networks, to folks that might enjoy or benefit from the content. Be well!
MR
