Goodbye. We’ll See Y’all Later!

Kim and I want to thank you for reading our weekly real estate investing newspaper column for the past 13 years. With this last article, we say: Goodbye, y’all!

In 2003, when we started this feature, we were still fairly new to real estate investing. As we gained knowledge and experience, we shared the creative deal-structuring techniques we learned that allowed the impossible deals to become not only possible, but also probable.

We also shared most every mistake we made along the way. We did this because more great lessons are learned from failure than from success!

And, we wrote a ton of articles about what it takes to succeed. No matter what field you’re in, the attributes it takes to succeed can be boiled down to these ten: love, accomplishment, discipline, persistence, belief, integrity, associations, a yearning to learn, sacrifice and giving back.

The story about how our weekly column first got in the paper demonstrates these attributes at work.

In 2002, we wrote a one-page newsletter that was passed out at our monthly real estate investor meeting. As 2003 approached, I decided to get our “articles” published in the newspaper.  

On a Monday at 10 a.m., I walked up to the editor’s desk, introduced myself, explained who I was and what I wanted, and gave him my article. He thanked me, told me he didn’t want or need my column, and pointed to the door.

The next Monday at 10 a.m., I walked up to the same editor’s desk, introduced myself, explained who I was and what I wanted, and gave him another article. Confused, he asked, “Weren’t you in here last week?” I acknowledged that I was that guy. He asked, “Didn’t I tell you no?” I said that he did. He said, “The answer is still no. Quit bothering me.” With that, out the door I went.

The next Monday at 10 a.m., I walked up to the editor’s desk and handed him another column. His eyes rolled. As he balled up my latest work, he said, “Look, Bill, you’re becoming annoying. I’m not going to run it. Leave me alone. Get out!”

For eight straight weeks, every Monday at 10 a.m., I showed up at the editor’s desk with a new column in hand. The eighth week was memorable, but not for the reason you may think. As soon as I walked into the newsroom, the editor blistered me with rebuke! Up one side and down the other he went. It was quite a colorful dressing down. In the end he said, “If you come in here again, I’m calling the police!” Out I went.

What would you do if you faced this situation? Remember, it’s OK to fail, but it’s not OK to quit. Failure can be overcome. Quitting is permanent!

The ninth Monday at 10 a.m., I again walked into the jaws of the newsroom. This time I was blindsided by the editor’s reaction. He started laughing! Then a guy in the office handed the editor a $20 bill and said, “Dang, I never thought he’d come back. You win!”

It turned out that on week eight a bet was made. It was wagered that if the editor tore into me good, I’d never return. The editor, because he was now an admirer of my persistence, took the bet…and came out $20 for the better.

Our real estate investing column has been published in a number of Georgia newspapers ever since.

Now, as Paul Harvey said, for the rest of the story: I’m dyslexic. In school I could barely read and write. Every assignment I turned in came back covered in red ink with a big “F” at the top. In the 1960s and 70s, because folks didn’t know what dyslexia was, my teachers assumed I was retarded.

But here’s the thing: Even though I could barely read and write I wanted to be a writer. That’s like someone who gets violently airsick wanting to be a pilot!

We leave you with this: You can succeed at whatever you want to do IF you’ll have a healthy disregard for the impossible…and never, ever quit!

What comes next? Kim and I will invest in real estate for the rest of our lives. And I’ll continue to write, but instead of a newspaper column, it will be a blog on our website http://CashFlowREI.com. A blog will allow me to write in greater detail, plus, to help make what I write about more understandable, I’ll be able to include audio and video! I will also continue writing this column for The Profit Newsletter. And finally, I’ll teach seminars around the country about how to achieve financial freedom by investing in real estate.

We wish you and yours a happy, healthy and prosperous 2016!

Love y’all! Bill and Kim