“Don’t despise small beginnings.” I’m personally in a place where I need to keep this in mind. I’ve done several deals. I’ve made tens of thousands of dollars. Yet I’m still working for someone else in an unrelated field. When I started real estates my entire goal was to “go into business for myself”. While I get closer with every deal, I am not quite there yet.

I am up at 7 AM working on my real estate license course. I work for 9 hours straight in a field I don’t enjoy. I get off work, cook dinner with my wife, and go back to studying. Not fun, right? That’s not to mention any work I have to do for my own company.

I am trying to do the whole “do what people won’t do now so you can live like they can’t”.

It’s really easy to look at other investors and get discouraged. “Comparison kills confidence.” As an investor your whole goal is to get things to snowball. We’ve all heard the parable about the small seed that grows into the mighty oak. This is exactly the same thing. You have to grit your teeth and sacrifice now.

One other thing that I will mention is what I call the “real estate lag”. Real estate is different from most businesses in that it can take months to get paid. Even if you find a deal tomorrow, you still have to find a buyer, set up closing, complete closing, and pick up your check before you get paid. The average time from a great lead to the bank is 45 days or more. Some deals take MUCH longer, and some deals fall through. The only way to make a consistent living in real estate is deal flow. You need a deal or two every month in the pipeline to have some sense of normalcy in your income.

I’m in a place every investor finds themselves in. Even though I have 4 closings come up in the next month the day to day can make you feel unaccomplished. Slow and steady leaves the rat race.