Hey there, Awesomely. Dolmar Cross with you.
Lemme share a bit about myself, in case you’re new ‘round these parts…
I’ve flipped a whopping 1,000+ houses since 2005. Plus, I have a fun “Zombie” house flipping TV show, and I’ve been named an “Inc 5000 Entrepreneur” — 3 fat times! (IKR?!) I don’t share that to brag, but rather to show you I’ve been in this REI world for a minute and found success, after some struggling.
I even partnered with Awesomely on a super-cool training program called Paper Flips. See, I love teaching and mentoring, and working with Awesomely was the icing on a tasty cake.
And in this post, I’m gonna share some useful info to help you reach success in your endeavors, too.
See, life isn’t always butterflies and rainbows, right? Actually, much of it can be. I know because I’ve had both — life failures and life successes.
When I first got started in real estate. It was not awesome. I messed up a few times, lost tons of money, was in massive debt. People around me told me I should have never started in REI. I had no support from the people I trusted the most.
But I pressed on. I didn’t let my deal failures or the Negative Nancys in my life stop me.
And I want to tell you what I went through, so you can avoid the same pitfalls on your own REI journey to success. It is absolutely achievable.
Check this out…
So, I often share my story about starting in real estate and the people with limited mindsets who were around me. I didn’t come from a wealthy family, and because of that, I was determined to make sure that a wealthy family started with me.
When I first got started, the negative people with limited mindsets who were around me, the cynical-thinking people… began with my parents. :/
See, they wanted me to be ambitious. To strive for greatness. To achieve great things in my life.
Well, in college, I was a balloon artist or door-to-door salesman. I also did network marketing. I did odd jobs just to be able to pay my bills and get by. And oftentimes at the end of the month, I couldn’t afford to pay all my bills. My parents had to chip in and help me out with my rent on a regular basis.
Being in that cycle for a couple of years got tiring.
I got tired of being broke. I was so sick and tired of being sick and tired broke all the time. I knew I wanted more out of life. I knew I had what it took to be something, to make something of myself, to achieve more in life…
But I didn’t want to go the traditional route of getting a college degree and then a J.O.B. in corporate America, climbing the rugs of that ladder and hopefully retiring one day.
That was my parents’ dream, but that wasn’t my dream.
I wanted more out of life. I wanted to make something of myself. And I looked to real estate as that possibility for me.
I saw one of my friends who was broke just like I was, struggling just like I was, not making enough money, just like I was, fed up and frustrated, just like I was.
And that summer after our sophomore year, he found real estate. By our junior year, he was making a ton of money.
But he wouldn’t share what he was doing. He kept that secret close. All I knew at the time was that he was doing real estate.
Knowing that I wanted more out of life… that I wanted to level up my life just like he did, I started educating myself about real estate.
I read this book called “Rich Dad, Poor Dad.” It opened up my eyes to the possibilities of real estate investing.
And I remember going to my father and telling him I wanted to be a real estate investor. You see, I grew up in the church. I’m a P.K.: pastor’s kid. And that was all I had known for most of my entire life. My father had his dream and vision for me and my siblings — we’d go to school, go to college, get a degree, graduate with a high GPA and our diploma, and go into corporate America, climbing the rugs of that ladder and hopefully one day retire.
That was my father’s dream for me. But it was not my dream. I didn’t want to build someone else’s dream.
I didn’t want to work for someone else. I didn’t want to help build someone else’s vision and dream. I didn’t want to have to ask permission when I could get a vacation or when I could get time off.
I wanted to build my own dream.
I knew there was more out there for me, and I wanted to pursue that path.
So, when I told my father that I wanted to be a real estate investor, to figure out how to break into that business, my father looked at me and said, “Son, why don’t you be more realistic? Why don’t you stick with your plan, the plan that you have? That’s the culture in America, is to get a degree and go work for someone else. So why don’t you stick with that plan?”
And, I don’t fault my father, because he simply didn’t know what he didn’t know. He thought that you needed good credit, a whole lot of money, and to put 20% down to even buy a property.
He didn’t realize that there are other ways to get involved in real estate.
And unfortunately, most people think like my father: that the only one way to invest is to buy the house, fix it up, and flip it. My father, and others, didn’t realize that there are other ways to get involved.
At the time, I didn’t know either. But I jumped into real estate, nonetheless. I found an agent through my girlfriend at the time, who’s now my wife today.
She introduced me to someone who helped me buy my first 2 properties… I way overpaid for those houses. I bought them incorrectly. I didn’t make any money on those deals.
Then, I ended up buying 2 other properties. These were my entrance into the fix-and-flip part of the business. Because I didn’t have any construction knowledge or know-how, my contractors took advantage of my inexperience.
In fact, my 4th property completely fell down on me.
I was already broke, and then immediately $35,000 in debt. That was my start in real estate. I failed on my first 4 deals.
Now, most people who go through what I went through when I first got started in real estate would have given up. They would have quit. They would have thrown in the towel a long time ago.
But you know what I did?
I was resourceful and thought outside the box.
I realized there is a way to make money in this business. And I found a mentor who taught me the art of wholesaling. And I still do the same strategy today.
The only difference from back then and now is that thanks to technology, tools, and new resources, I can now do this business virtually from the comfort of my own home.
You can do deals anywhere in America. That’s what I love about this business.
I’ve got deals going right now in California, New York, Pittsburgh, throughout Florida. Completely virtually…
I’ve never seen the houses. I’ve never talked to the buyers, sellers, or agents. I’ve never personally stepped foot in any of those houses. I’ve never inspected them myself. I was not involved in signing any of the purchase agreements to make offers on these houses.
I have a team that does all that for me.
And that’s why they call me the “automated investor.” I use technology and people to remove me from my business… to make it a virtual and automated business. That’s the beautiful thing about this business today.
So, after I failed on my first 4 properties, I found a mentor and learned the business the right way. Then, in the last quarter of 2005, I made a lot of money. I was just 20 years old. I made more money than most people make in their entire year’s salary as a wholesaler. And I never turned back.
I started making upward of $40,000+ per month. It was insane. I proved everybody wrong.
And if I had listened to all the naysayers around me, I wouldn’t be here today.
Remember, my parents didn’t think it was possible. My closest friends, the people I look up to, the people who have the biggest influence on my life, they all told me I didn’t deserve to be successful. They laughed at the possibility of me being a real estate investor. They said the odds were already stacked against me, so why even bother? Why even try in the first place? My ex-girlfriend made me feel like a nobody, like I was worthless.
Again, these are people who had the biggest influence in my life. “Dolmar, you’re a balloon artist. What makes you think you’re going to be a successful real estate investor? Are you serious? Be realistic.”
So, I want you to realize that these limited-thinking people, who tried to enroll me into their limited-belief systems, had the biggest influence on my life. My parents, my closest friends, my ex-girlfriends.
If I had listened to them, I would not be where I am today. If I had listened to them, I would not be an investor who’s done well over 1,000 transactions in my career. If I had listened to them, I would not be an entrepreneur who has a business that was on the Inc 5000 list 3 times. That’s a prestigious list that people strive for. I never thought that would be a milestone in my story.
If I had listened to those limited-thinking people who were in my life and had the biggest influence on me, I would not be here today.
So my challenge for you is…
If you have limited-thinking people in your life right now, you need to start distancing yourself from them. I want you to stop limiting your thinking, stop limiting your thoughts, your ideas. Stop limiting your dreams, your passions. And for G-d’s sake, stop surrounding yourself with limited-thinking people who try to enroll you into their limited-belief systems.
It’s only then when you make those decisions that you will start to achieve success. It doesn’t have to be perfect. You just have to start making progress.
Stop limiting yourself. This is your moment. This is your time right now. It’s you versus you every single day. Stop watching everybody else. Make the decision, make the commitment, and get started.
You can be a success. You can be successful in anything that you choose to do, but it’s a decision that only you can make for you. I can’t make that decision for you.
So why are you standing in your own way?
So many people are achieving and actualizing success in this business. Why not you, too?
Think about that…
Think about the person you must become to be successful. Think about the people you must distance yourself from to take action and achieve success.
Set your goals, create an action plan, and go out and execute that plan.
I know you can do this.