So here we go... Chapter One: Prior to starting the business.

480 and less then $100.00. That was my credit score and the amount of money I had to my name when I was 23 years old and decided to start in the real estate business. However, this is not going to be a story on how to succeed in real estate, it's simply my story of what I believe is a road to success, being written as it happens. I'm already starting three years late, so I will have to get you caught up until now. Also, expect grammar errors, I never did that well in English class!

After high school, I went straight into college. I was studying computer programming and networking. My parents and I decided to buy a house with a few rooms, one for me to live in, and rent the others out rather then living in an expensive dorm room on campus. It was a good move, we had 6 rooms, I lived in one and we had no problem renting the other 5 out. It was free living for me, and a nice investment for my parents. I wasn't necessarily interested in the real estate business at that time, was just a way to get through school, cheaper. While going through school, I worked at an electronics store making good money on commission.

I was 3 years into what was supposed to be a 2 year program, struggling to get through two more classes that I needed to get my degree. One was a class that had no similarity to my field, ironically, the other was a business management class. I had failed them twice, and would only have one more shot. I figured it wasn't worth the money to try again right away, I should take a break and continue to work for awhile. Besides, I was making great money at my job, I was the number one sales person in my district, and figured I would make more money doing what I was doing, then getting a job in the field I went to school for. So I dropped out of school and worked full time.

Not long after I dropped out, the company I was working for decided to change their pay structure from commission to hourly. Their was a mass layoff of employees that were making to much on commission to be compensated for hourly. I was one of those people. They didn't even give a days notice, I was let go and had to collect unemployment compensation for a year. That was the year my credit was destroyed. Unemployment was only a fraction of what I was making when I worked, and so I was unable to make a lot of payments during that year. It was also a bad medical year for me as well. I was in the hospital numerous times, had pleurisy twice and eventually was diagnosed with a gastroperesis problem that was causing me a lot of pain. I racked up quite a bit in medical bills, and without health insurance or a job, I was not able to pay for it, another credit killer.

I was just about at the end of my unemployment compensation and was still searching for a job that was reasonable. I found out that after being laid off for a year from the company, I was able to come back. A good friend of mine at the time became a store manager, and asked if I would like to come back to the company and get right into the management training. I really didn't have anything else going for me, so I took him up on the offer. It was hard going back to the company after what they did to me, but it was the best option at the time, so I tried to forget about it. I couldn't, I was working much harder going through management and making a lot less then what I was before on commission. I was constantly miserable while working there again, always thinking it wasn't fair. It was a grudge I couldn't let go of.

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Tags: Real Estate Money Investing Dreams Goals Hopes Happiness

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