Meet new real estate investor, Mike Davis! I have been blessed with the chance to watch Mike and his wife Melody step into real estate investing and buy their first three properties. It has been amazing to see them use knowledge, understanding and wisdom to go about this investment carefully. Here is Mike’s testimony, along with a couple of his tips for new investors!
I can honestly say that I’ve had a strong desire to get into real estate for over ten years. It took all those years for my wife and I to get into agreement about it, and it also took that long to overcome my fear of jumping into the unknown. And that is what it felt like at first. There was far more that I didn’t know than what I did, but as usual, when I took the first step, God had people there with tons of knowledge to help me navigate the unknown. As soon as I jumped in it was fun and exciting.
But it wasn’t just a blind jump with someone coaching. Before I jumped in I got as much advice as I could and made sure this was the direction we were to move in. My wife and I felt nothing but peace. Some of my coaches were wise enough to try to dissuade me in any way they could, knowing the commitment involved. But when they saw I was determined to move ahead, they went out of their way, beyond the bounds of friendship, above and beyond…to help me.
Although they helped me in every way they could—looking for properties, helping me with bids, reviewing papers—one place they could not help was dealing with the banks. I learned a lot, and one thing I learned was that unless I have no other option, I do not care to do business with big banks! I prefer the local “Mom and Pop” banks in my community. We purchased our first three properties over the last nine months. Our first two homes were purchased through a big bank and I can tell you I received much better customer service when we purchased our third property through a local bank.
My attitude towards going into debt has been another hurdle. To get started, I had to use the equity out of our home to make the purchases. I was just two years from having our house paid off and I thought, “What am I doing going into debt?!” But we truly do have a greater peace of mind now, knowing that our home is opening up the future for us financially. We do have more debt than we’ve ever had, but we also have a greater cash flow and we’re actively working to pay off those properties one at a time as we build our real estate business.
A huge part of my vision for real estate investing and the knowledge to actually do it has actually come through the Wealthbuilders‘ seminar. The knowledge and wisdom I gained through Wealthbuilders have been invaluable in keeping my goals in focus and equipping me with the knowledge and resources I need—as well as just keeping me excited about the opportunities out there for those who are willing to work hard! Even the relationships I developed with other attendees have been fruitful as we encourage one another and share our experiences.
As Melody and I move into the final quarter of our first year in real estate, we have a goal to pay off one property by the end of the year. On top of that, we’ve set our hearts on purchasing a fourth with cash next year! Will we do it? Time will tell. But we believe that God has led us into this area of business to bless us and also to position us to be a blessing—and He always does things big!
Mike Davis is the pastor of a church in Pueblo. You can check them out here: http://www.rmfchurch.org/
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