6 deals in 2 months. Then nothing for 6 months.
That’s the pattern nobody warns you about when you’re starting out in real estate investing. The success stories skip right over it. The courses don’t mention it. The testimonials conveniently forget it existed.
But it’s real, and it probably kills more investing careers than any market crash ever could.
So, my old friend Steph Davis was bartending in Tampa when she got into wholesaling. She busted her ass, made offers, learned everything she could.
Then boom — 5 or 6 deals in quick succession.
Money rolling in. Yeah, this thing was working.
So she quit her job on January 1st.
I mean, why wouldn’t she? She’d cracked the code.
Then for the next 6 months, nothing closed. Not a single deal.
I remember years ago when she first described this self-made nightmare to me.
No income, no backup plan, and everyone watching to see if she’d fail.
She’d even made this big public declaration about leaving bartending behind.
Her pride wouldn’t let her go back. She had to make this work or starve.
The Part That’s Edited Out of Success Stories
Here’s what kills me about most real estate investing “success stories”: They skip right over this part.
You hear just a little about the struggle, then boom, suddenly they’re doing deals and making money. It’s like watching a movie where the hero goes from homeless to millionaire in a 2-minute montage set to inspiring music.
Real life doesn’t work that way.
Again, Steph described those 6 months to me as a “nightmare.”
She said looking back through her blog posts from that time period was painful because she could just feel the desperation she’d felt oozing through the screen.
She was giving it everything she had… working nonstop, making offers, networking, doing all the right things. AND GETTING NOTHING BACK.
And she couldn’t just go get her bartending job back…
I mean, she’d made this big public declaration. She’d burned the proverbial ships. She had to eat, and the only way to eat was to close deals.
Why This Happens (& Why It’s Actually Normal)
Think about your first few deals in anything…
You’re operating on beginner’s luck mixed with sheer determination. You don’t know enough yet to realize what you don’t know. You’re making mistakes, sure, but some of them will likely accidentally work in your favor.
Then reality sets in.
And you start to understand how much you actually don’t know.
The market shifts slightly. The tactics that worked stop working. Your confidence takes a hit and it shows in how you present yourself to sellers and buyers. You second-guess everything.
Think of it like learning to ride a bike….
At first, someone’s holding you up and running alongside. You think you’ve got it.
Then they let go… and you realize you’ve got to actually learn to balance on your own.
Most people fall a few times before they figure it out. That’s the necessary learning curve to eventual success.
The difference?
In real estate, those falls can last months and cost you 💵 real money.
The Immersion Method (Whether You Like It or Not)
I’ve seen this pattern dozens of times running a REIA group in Memphis for years.
Someone does their first deal, gets that check, and immediately quits their job.
Then they hit the wall.
Some people bounce. They go back to their job, tail between their legs, saying “man, real estate doesn’t work!”
Others push through. Like Steph did. Like I did.
There’s a language-learning principle at play here:
- You can take French classes for years and learn the grammar, memorize vocabulary, practice pronunciation.
- Or you can move to Paris where nobody speaks English and you’ve got to learn French or starve.
Which method is faster? Which one actually works?
The immersion method sucks while you’re going through it. It’s uncomfortable, stressful, sometimes humiliating.
But you learn that language because you have to.
There’s no backup plan, no safety net, no translation app to bail you out.
That 6-month gap Steph went through?
That was her immersion period. She had to figure it out or fail. And there was no way she was going back to bartending after making such a big deal about leaving.
Her pride and stubbornness saved her career.
What Actually Happens During The Gap
So what was Stephanie doing during those 6 brutal months?
Everything.
She was:
- Making offers constantly (most getting rejected)
- Networking at every real estate meeting she could find
- Building relationships with other wholesalers
- Learning her target market inside and out
- Calling for-rent signs to find cash buyers
- Analyzing comps until she could do it in her sleep
- Following up on old leads
- Refining her pitch
None of this felt like it was working.
But it was.
She was building the foundation that would support her for years to come.
The deals weren’t happening yet because real estate investing has a lag time. You plant seeds today and harvest months later.
She was planting like crazy during that gap, she just couldn’t see any crops yet.
The Bob Norton Pattern
Steph’s story reminds me of another old friend, my buddy Bob Norton, with his own version of this experience.
Bob did his first deal and immediately quit his job too. He’d set this goal of doing a deal a week, and that first one made him think he was ready.
Then nothing for months.
Bob will tell you now that those months were hell.
But they were also the making of himself…
He had to figure out systems, strategies, relationships. He couldn’t just dabble anymore: This was survival.
Today, Bob’s made many millions in real estate. But he earned every dollar of it during those early months when he had to eat and the only food on the table came from closing deals.
Should You Quit Your Job After Deal #1?
Heck no.
I mean, probably not.
It depends. ッ
Look, I quit my job too early too. So did Steph. So did Bob.
Are we recommending it?
Absolutely not. It’s super risky and you could lose everything.
But…
There’s something about having your back against the wall that brings out capabilities you didn’t know you had.
When failure means you can’t pay rent, you find a way to succeed. You get creative. You work harder. You stop making excuses.
The safer approach is to keep your job and build your real estate business on the side until it’s consistently replacing your income.
That’s the smart play. That’s what most financial advisors would tell you to do.
The reality is that many successful investors I know (myself included) took the stupid risk and jumped before we were ready. The desperation fueled the success.
I’m not saying you should do it…
I’m saying if you did it and you’re in that nightmare gap right now, you’re not alone and you’re not failing. You’re just learning.
What To Do With All This
Well, I don’t know you, but if you’re thinking about getting into real estate investing, knowing about the 6-month gap should change your strategy:
Expect it. Don’t be surprised when deals dry up after some initial success. It’s fairly normal. It’s part of the process. You’re not broken and the market isn’t rigged against you… you’re just learning.
Save up. If you’re going to quit your job, have at least 6 mos of living expenses saved. Steph didn’t have this cushion and it made everything harder. Learn from her mistake.
Plant seeds constantly. During the gap, you need to be building relationships, making offers, and networking like your life depends on it. Because if you quit your job, it kind of does.
Find your people. Stephanie survived because she found friends and mentors who’d actually done what she was trying to do. She ignored the naysayers and surrounded herself with people who proved it was possible.
Keep receipts. Stephanie’s blog became a chronicle of her journey. When she wanted to quit, she could look back and see how far she’d come. Consider documenting your own progress in this journey, even when it feels like you’re not making any.
The Bottom Line
Nobody tells you about the 6-month gap because it doesn’t sell courses. It doesn’t look good in testimonials. It’s not inspirational content for social media.
But it’s real.
Steph pushed through it and built a successful wholesaling business. She eventually wrote the “Flip This Wholesaler” e-book that helped thousands of other investors.
She actually became the expert she needed when she was starting out.
But she earned it during those 6 months when nothing was working and she had to figure it out or fail hard.
If you’re in the gap right now: keep going. You’re closer than you think.
The seeds you’re planting today will harvest soon. Just don’t stop planting.
And if you haven’t started yet, go in with your eyes open.
Real estate investing works, but it’s not easy and it’s not quick. There will be gaps. There will be months where nothing happens despite your best efforts.
The question isn’t whether you’ll hit the gap. The question is whether you’ll push through it when you do.
OK your move: Where are you in your real estate journey? Are you in the gap right now, or are you preparing for it?
Either way, you’re not alone. 👊