I was 32 weeks pregnant with my first child when we closed on our house in Houston. I had planned to relocate my comfy corporate job to Houston while my husband did graduate school in the famous Texas Medical Center. About a week after we closed on our house, I learned the Houston office was closing and that job would be no more.
At the time, it felt devastating because I had been so intentional to lay the groundwork in the pre-kid years for a long and fruitful career in the insurance industry. I also truly loved my job and the people I worked alongside.
But God in His Providence had different plans. I ended up pressing the pause button on trying to find another job. We made my husband’s one income work, and I took up a side hustle of cutting coupons. Those years had some stressful, tense moments, but I honestly wouldn’t change them. I had the gift of staying home with what quickly became three kids. The memories and mom friends from that season will remain some lifelong favorites.
When baby #2 was a year old, however, I was ready for a little something for myself. The realtor we had used to buy our home was looking for someone to work for her part-time. It felt like a strange transition to go from a corporate salary to an hourly administrative job, but I enjoyed being able to learn something new and justify the expense of sending everyone to Mother’s Day Out a few hours a week.
That little side job ended up being a seed that sprouted a love for real estate.
(In reality, the seed was probably there even further back, as I tasted the thrill of “investing” playing Monopoly all night long at my grandparents’ house over Christmas break with my cousins when we were all kids. I digress.)
But when I jumped into the real estate world, it didn’t take long for me to realize how much I did not know.
One of the more humbling moments was the first time I was sent to get a lockbox from Home Depot and leave it on a door. My boss plainly said to get the kind that has a combination to open it. I bought what was probably meant to be a bike lock and hung it on the front door. I had no idea what I was doing. (If you’re reading this and equally puzzled, it was meant to be the lockbox for the keys so people could access the house for showings.)
So, when I say I started in real estate not knowing anything, I’m not exaggerating.
What I did have going for me was all that corporate training on reading and negotiating contracts. In my former career, I had access to top-dollar training on how to read the details, how to make deals a win/win, how to have crucial conversations, etc. I wasn’t prepared for how well those skills would translate, but I credit them to my early success in the real estate industry.
Fast forward to becoming a landlord. I had read a book or two, but had no real knowledge of what was needed. I didn’t know you had to have an extra deadbolt on the doors, or how to winterize the sprinkler, or how to file an eviction.
I made so many mistakes. When I look back, I cringe. I fell for every sob story in the book and treated on-time rent payments like an occasional stroke of good fortune when it happened. I let tenants drive the direction of the home’s profitability in the name of tenant relations. (Your dog ate all the baseboards? I’m sure we can get that taken care of. Your toddler likes drawing on the walls? No problem.)
Lessons were learned, processes were initiated, and I’d like to think I have managed to keep my humanity along the way, too. Today, I’m so thankful for the freedom and opportunities real estate investing has given our family, and it is why I wish to help other “everyday investors” find profitability and financial freedom.
