Fear. Breathe. Trust.

A lot of progress has occurred in the 8 months since my last post - I finished my first house and have it rented out to a wonderful family! A few months into my first reno, I purchased and renovated a second home in the same neighborhood and also have that rented out to a wonderful couple. I took my time finding tenants. And so far they have been worth the wait!

We were able to refinance both homes, one to pay back ourselves and one to pay back my lender. We now have a lot of equity in our Westview Atlanta homes and by all accounts, they were great investments. But as Mischa (hubby) says, "You can't buy groceries with equity." Cash flow is an issue and needed so we don't have to dip into our savings again! Hence, the "Fear".

The vital next step - finding another home to transform, this one a flip. I have been reaching out to a number of wholesalers, but the numbers haven't worked yet.

The real issue, you see, is that I have come to enjoy this new life. My rehab life is exactly what I had dreamed of! All throughout my career I told people during interviews that "I like going into truly dirty kitchens, just not messy kitchens, they must be filthy. And then I make them sparkle." Well, that is what I literally get to do now! I love managing the projects, shopping at The Home Depot, negotiating with contractors, visiting the site daily, surrounding myself with a team of people who want to see me succeed and meeting the people that will get to enjoy the beauty that I have helped to uncover.

And what I love even more is the flexibility my rehab life provides. Since leaving the 9-5 world, over the past year, I have been more present - mentally and physically, for my family AND me! I was able to be first responder if the kids were sick or had a day off, was the assistant coach for Emma's Inman girls' lacrosse team, volunteered for the Inman Middle School Poetry Out Loud contest, ran to get Oreos for Max's teacher when he needed them at the last minute for a project, stood in the boiling sun helping kids stack buckets on Field Day and met Max at school with an umbrella when it was raining. Seeing his smiling face, made the career change all worth it.

But the flexibility is only possible with discipline. I must consistently do the things I need to do: it is the only way I am going to make this rehab life work. I must put my goals on paper - short and long term. Keep email correspondence in check. Stay on top of accounting, attend my GA REIA meetings so that I am aware of advances in my field, read, read, read. Schedule coffee/tea with people that I respect in this field. Listen to Jim Rohn at every opportunity I can. Surround myself with people who inspire and uplift me. I must Breathe deeply. And most importantly Trust.

You see, I was worried in August 2016 that I wouldn't find my first house. But I did. I was concerned that something big would be discovered during the renovation that I missed. But it wasn't. I was fearful that I wouldn't find a good tenant, after two long months of searching. But I did! All throughout my career, I have researched, consulted experts, put a plan together, executed, and have been successful. Every single time. I hope to look back at this post in a few months time and see that finding my first profitable flip was just one more example of where I needed to Breathe and Trust.