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jazminebryant · 4 years

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Where I Begin (Again)

The first time I was introduced to real estate investing was, like with most people, on HGTV watching real estate investors breaking down walls and pretending they didn't know about the wall issue that causes such a panic during the episode (I know enough now that if you did a proper inspection before closing on the property, half of the dramatic issues that we see on TV would have never come up during the rehab process). It was entertaining watching them solve their issues with the property and seeing that with a little hard work, you can make $35,000 in a few weeks.

I never thought to act on it doing it myself. I was in high school and only watched because my mom refused to watch anything I liked so I sat, I watched, and I observed. I wanted to be making that kind of money myself but I couldn't imagine or even fathom how to come up with that amount of money to buy a property, and let's not talk about the fact that I didn't know (and still don't know) the first thing about construction. Fast forward to May 2019, I've moved, I'm in college full-time, and I still watched HGTV shows on Netflix religiously. I'm in my car doing food delivery for GrubHub and I hear a commercial come on the radio (my tape that I used for an aux cord was stuck and wouldn't play my music so I listened to the radio) inviting me to come out and spend a few hours learning about real estate investing and how I could get started earning the big bucks. For an online college student with $55,000 in debt using a beat-up 2002 Honda Civic that was ready to break down any minute for GrubHub as their primary source of income, I could use some of those big bucks there were advertising about.

I was at a red light and I typed the website link into my phone's notes pad (not so legal, I know, but I was borderline desperate) and finished my shift. When I got home, I registered my boyfriend and myself up for the seminar at the end of the next week. I was excited and didn't know what to expect other than to be making $35,000 in a few weeks after learning what I needed to know.

Before the seminar was over, I got sucked up into the pitch of attending a three-day seminar for $200. My boyfriend who's not easily persuaded was also hooked and ready to learn all that we could about real estate investing. I was so moved, I bought an additional course on a specific kind of investing (tax liens). I knew that I was going to take all of the material we got from the seminar, study it, and be ready for the next course.

Well, after attending the first seminar, I got impatient and researched what I would learn at this three-day course. I found blog after blog about how this company was going to pitch to me a $50,000 course. Remember I said I had $55,000 in debt? I was devastated, especially because I had spent money I didn't have for this seminar. I kept researching the upcoming seminar and I found a few people say although they didn't pay for the additional courses, they still learned a lot.

We decided that after some research into real estate on YouTube and discovering BiggerPockets, we didn't need a $50,000 course, I'm a business student and he has two business degrees; we know how to research for information. I said that I'd take some of the most detailed notes I'd ever take and use that to build upon our knowledge and that's exactly what I did. I have sold 25-pages worth of handwritten notes from that three-day seminar. The presenter even joked about how I had so many notes. I didn't care. I'd rather have hand cramps then come out of pocket for $50,000 which I more than likely wouldn't have been able to attain anyways; my credit was in the trash (still is to this day) because of my high credit utilization and lack of paying my bills on time. I wanted my $200 worth of material.

While some spent $50,000 for a business-in-a-box, I spent the entire summer learning all that I could, speaking with real estate agents and title companies. I went hardcore on my real estate investing business and had some solid momentum. I went as far as sending out 150 letters and placing 300 calls. Of that, we scheduled one property tour. My boyfriend and I lost some steam, we knew that we shouldn't get our hopes up thinking we would strike it rich the first go-around but we quickly ran out of money and time by October (we officially started our business in August 2019).

By the end of November, I stopped sending out letters, they were too expensive for me to continue on a freelancer's wage and I stopped driving for dollars. I honestly got tired of the word 'no' even though I was told by multiple people to not give up, no matter how many 'no's I get. The business was all of a sudden draining on me and I stopped paying attention to our business. I had a lot going on at the time and it was taking up a lot of my time to where I didn't have time for anything else, my schoolwork included.

I haven't spoken about real estate until last week (other than the few times my awesome real estate agent friend, Patrick, would call to check on us and our progress). 6 months of nothing about real estate. 6 months of forgotten terms and concepts. It makes me sad that something I was so passionate about and couldn't shut up about a year ago (that three-day seminar started May 17, 2019) was forgotten. After a year of freelancing and doing odd jobs to make a living, I recently started working full-time again because I realized I lacked the discipline I needed to be a successful freelancer and got really behind on my bills. Now that I have been working full-time for the past three months, I've started to climb out of the hole I had only dug deeper for myself over the past year and I am working at paying off my credit cards, at the very least, to free up some cash I can use for our business(es).

This week has been very eye-opening to me on what I've been missing that truly makes me happy, real estate and wealth generation. I recently finished a book by Gary Vaynerchuk (Gary Vee), Crush It! Why Now is the TIme to Cash in on Your Passion, and I don't know exactly where in the book where it clicked to me that I needed to get back to the things that I have been passionate about. I finished that book four days ago and I've recently started reading, The Book on Investing in Real Estate with No and Low Money Down by Brandon Turner. A lot of the terms of real estate are coming back to me (for the life of me, I couldn't remember what a HELOC was until earlier today) and I've been working on our business plan for the past week.

I don't know what it is about this time around, but I've got a better feeling that things will turn out for the better for us. Gary Vee gave me the confidence I needed to ask my job if I could go part-time (doesn't make any sense for me to quit my job any time soon like I did the last time - well, I got laid off but that's another story) so I can focus on finishing my degree (two more classes!!) and work on my business(es). I was shocked to know that my request to switch to part-time had been approved - thanks Gary Vee!! So now, I'll be able to add some flexibility back in my week to work on our investing business and another business my boyfriend and I run together and still be able to freelance to come up with the missing wages from not working full-time.

I still am feeling very overwhelmed just like I did in the beginning of my real estate journey, but now that I know a few things, I feel a little better. My business plan hasn't been worked on so much in the past couple of days but only because I've been doing so much reading lately, see why I need more flexibility? I plan on finishing this investing book and then I have a lot more to read down the line. I'm just glad I'm in a whole lot better of a situation than I was a year ago. I have the income to pay my bills, anything extra will be for paying off debt faster and funding our business. I understand marketing from the real estate investors' perspective a lot better so I know which marketing strategies I'll try first this time around that won't cost a lot out of pocket and I've learned it's okay to slow down and ingest the material instead of my usual read and apply methodology.

I know I won't be making $35,000 a week, a month, or maybe even six months from now, but I am a lot more confident in my ability to actually reach that figure and then some. As of right now, I've got goals written down and I'm figuring out my business plan. I've done business plans for products and small services but nothing like real estate so it's brand new to me for some parts. As I work through this all over again, I read over the goals I set for myself a year ago, and if I was as ambitious as I thought I would be, I'd have half of my debt paid off by now. But I've learned it's okay to get knocked down, I knocked myself down but I've learned a lot about investing since then and I know it can only get better from here. If you've made it this far, thank you for reading! I do have a question for you. Do you use a planner? If so, what brand of planner do you use? I am in search of one that is entrepreneur-friendly and has the space for a lot of notes. Obviously, I have a lot going on so I need something that has some multipurpose to it.

If you're like me, new and inexperienced, I'd love to connect and offer each other support. If you have some advice or tips from me, I'd love to connect and pick your brain over your successes and challenges.

#real estate investment #realestate #begginerinvestor #investing #business #small business #tucson #arizona #multifamily #single family

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multipleservicelisting · 3 years

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Coronavirus Briefing: What Happened Today

Fighting vaccine resistance with gift cards

One reason that the start to the U.S. vaccination campaign has been so sluggish is that health care workers — among the first to be eligible — have proved more reluctant to get the inoculation than expected.

Some are concerned with the newness of the vaccines. Others are worried about potential side effects. And the failure to get the virus under control has eroded their trust in the groups now urging them to take the shot: the federal government, politicians and their employers.

But hospitals and nursing homes have been scarred by many thousands of Covid-19 deaths and are desperate to have their employees inoculated. And they’re coming up with carrot-and-stick strategies that other organizations may mimic to handle vaccinations among reluctant employees.

My colleagues Rebecca Robbins, Sabrina Tavernise and Sharon Otterman found that some employers are offering rewards like cash bonuses, paid time off and even Waffle House gift cards for those who get inoculated, while in at least a few cases saying they will fire those who refuse.

Critics point out that many people in health care are low-paid workers who have historically been mistreated, and say it’s unethical to strong-arm them into taking the vaccines — especially when there hasn’t been enough time to gather long-term safety data.

At the moment, the U.S. government is not requiring individual coronavirus vaccinations, but it has a long history of allowing such mandates. Last month, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued guidance that allowed employers to require workers to get a Covid vaccine, but the guidelines also highlighted thorny legal questions that could emerge.

Nevertheless, airlines, workplaces and sports stadiums may soon require people to show their coronavirus vaccination status before they can enter. Today, a coalition of technology companies, health organizations and nonprofits — including Microsoft, Oracle and the Mayo Clinic — said that they were developing technology standards that would allow people to show their immunization records on their smartphones.

Dr. Brad Perkins is the chief medical officer at the Commons Project Foundation, a nonprofit in Geneva that is participating in the effort. “For some period of time,” he said, “most all of us are going to have to demonstrate either negative Covid-19 testing or an up-to-date vaccination status to go about the normal routines of our lives.”

Biden’s “rescue” proposal

The resurgent pandemic continues to hobble the U.S. economy. The Labor Department on Thursday reported that 1.15 million Americans filed new unemployment claims in the first week of the year, a 25 percent increase from the previous week.

Tonight around 7 p.m. Eastern, President-elect Joe Biden plans to outline his administration’s proposal to handle both the pandemic and the economy, involving $1.9 trillion in government spending. (We’ll carry Mr. Biden’s speech live in our transition briefing.)

The sprawling package includes more than $400 billion to combat the pandemic directly, including accelerating vaccine deployment and safely reopening most schools within 100 days of passage. But the proposal will most likely also cover the economy, health care, education, climate change and other domestic priorities.

The package is expected to include $1,400 payments to individuals along with $350 billion to help state and local governments. Mr. Biden is also expected to call for more help for renters.

The Biden “rescue” proposal, which would be financed entirely through increased federal borrowing, will also provide emergency paid leave to 106 million Americans, regardless of the size of their employer, and it would extend tax credits to many families to offset up to $8,000 in annual child care costs. The president-elect will also propose extending expanded unemployment benefits through the end of September, and will call on Congress to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.

Resurgences

Here’s a roundup of restrictions in all 50 states.

What else we’re following

Representative Adriano Espaillat, Democrat of New York, is the latest member of Congress to test positive for the virus after the Capitol siege.

France said it planned to test up to a million schoolchildren and teachers every month for the coronavirus amid growing concern over the spread of the variant that was first detected in Britain.

A new study found that people who have had Covid-19 have a similar level of protection against the virus as those who have received a vaccine, at least for five months.

In New Jersey, smoking is considered a medical condition that makes you eligible to get a vaccine in the state, a group that includes about two million people, NJ.com reports.

Cloth masks, particularly homemade ones, were supposed to be a temporary solution until the U.S. could ramp up its P.P.E. supply. Why, The Atlantic asks, are Americans still wearing them?

Taking a cue from the battered restaurant industry, the Girl Scouts said that they would offer contactless delivery of their cookies through Grubhub.

What you’re doing

I am spending more time pulling out invasive Oriental Bittersweet by the roots. I used to be able to just enjoy and photograph the woods around me, but the post-holiday surge has me needing work that is physical and points to a better future.

— Jane E. Herbert, Westbrook, Maine

Let us know how you’re dealing with the pandemic. Send us a response here, and we may feature it in an upcoming newsletter.

Email your thoughts to [email protected].

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#multiple #service #listing #news #local #business #ads #near #me

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armyhealth9-blog · 5 years

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How My Eating Disorder Cost Me $4,500

Disclaimer: This post discusses depression, anxiety, and eating disorders. Please only continue reading if you feel it is healthy for you to do so.

My junior year of college was a dark time for me. Riddled with self-doubt and an overwhelming workload, I started having one of the worst depressive episodes to date in my life. It was like nothing I had experienced before. Every morning before class, I would take the longest time to get myself out of bed. In my mind, nothing seemed worth living for, so what was the point of doing anything? I felt like I didn’t deserve to be at NYU, where I got my Bachelor’s, and that I was admitted because someone in the admissions office pitied me — not because of merit or any special qualities.

As someone coming from a low-income background, being at such a prestigious school filled with uber-privileged and well-off students intimidated me. Everyone seemed smarter, more advanced, and more self-aware than I was. They were able to articulate themselves so well, were well versed in lofty subjects (I didn’t even know what “feminism” meant prior to college), and were incredibly refined people. Meanwhile, I was just a young awkward black woman with a semi-decent high school education and barely any money to my name or my family. I couldn’t have been more of an outsider. Or at least, that’s what I constantly told myself.

That negative self-talk eventually gave way to some terrible habits: Insomnia, lashing out at friends, and binge-eating. Food became my source of comfort. Afraid and ashamed to seek help, I turned to it in my lowest moments. At first, I didn’t think anything of my eating habits. It started with me ordering red velvet cake from a diner across the street from my dorm virtually every other night to satisfy my sweet tooth. Then, I started ordering two dinners all the time. Eventually, it became so bad that I was scarfing down meals fit for a family of four at random times on a daily basis. It wasn’t uncharacteristic for me to consume a burger, fries, waffles, hash browns, and multiple cups of soda in one sitting. In fact, that became my go-to combination.

Seamless, GrubHub, and every other food delivery service you could think of became my best friends. They enabled me to get as much food as I wanted to eat in the comfort of my room away from the judgmental stares I’d inevitably receive in a restaurant. When I was around food, all of my worries disappeared. It didn’t matter that I was eating to excess and pushing myself to my absolute limits (I constantly ended up with digestive issues) — sitting at my desk with copious amounts of food was where I felt safe, like I belonged, where no one could judge me.

“Some people feel ashamed to reach out and get help for their binge eating because they fear judgment,” licensed psychotherapist Rebecca Capps explains. “Another reason why a person might hesitate to ask for help is that they feel shame and guilt over having little to no control over food. They believe that they should somehow ‘work harder’ when it comes to dieting, which then leads to a vicious cycle that leads them right back to patterns of binging.”

I refused to deal with my emotions surrounding my self-worth and how I was feeling at school, so I ate and ate and ate until the point of sickness, thinking it was the salve I needed. It wasn’t. My anxiety only intensified. And as my waistline grew and I began packing on pounds, I dipped further into a depressive funk. My funds also began depleting, leading me to rely on a credit card I had acquired solely for emergencies. Unsurprisingly, the higher the balance got, the more I’d consume. It didn’t matter that everything in my life was going awry — I had this insatiable hunger that couldn’t be satisfied, officially spiraling out of control with an eating disorder that couldn’t be stopped.

In our culture, we talk a lot about other food-based conditions like anorexia and bulimia, but not enough about binge-eating disorder and the toll it can take on someone. If I was aware that it even existed, maybe I would have recognized the signs in my own life sooner.

According to the National Eating Disorders Association, binge-eating disorder is characterized as “a severe, life-threatening, and treatable eating disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of eating large quantities of food (often very quickly and to the point of discomfort).” As reported by the Cleveland Clinic medical center, it’s the most popular eating disorder across the nation. Roughly four million Americans have it, and yet I don’t hear people speaking about it often — that’s why I wanted to share my story today.

My rock bottom came when I maxed out my credit card to the tune of $4,500. (I know — I can’t believe it, either.) My attempt to get my bank to increase my credit limit, thankfully, failed. I could no longer keep going down this destructive path of stuffing my face with food just because I didn’t like myself. My body and finances had had enough.

When I look back at some of my college years, I still can’t believe I let myself get to that point. But it happened, and it’s about time for me to own up to the past and truly face all of those factors that precipitated my binge-eating disorder in the first place. I’m finally in a place where I recognize I have an unhealthy relationship with food, one that I need to deal with for the sake of my mental and physical health — and my wallet. While I have a better handle on my binge eating, there’s still a lot of room for improvement. So I’ve started going to a local chapter of Overeaters Anonymous, where I can speak openly about my struggles in a welcoming and judgement-free group setting. I’ve also started paying down my credit card balance (I should actually be done with it by the end of this year) and making it habit to speak openly and honestly with friends and family about my low moments. I deserve to feel happy and healthy, and I’m working on getting there.

Shammara is the editorial assistant at The Financial Diet. When she’s not copy-editing or writing about her financial woes, you can find her on Twitter sharing her thoughts on beauty and fashion trends and pop culture.

Image via Unsplash

Source: https://thefinancialdiet.com/how-my-eating-disorder-cost-me-4500/

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