Thread: New young buck

Hey all,

First and foremost I want to say that this is a highly mature forum loaded with helpful individuals from all walks of life. Whether your worth millions or live in a cardboard box, everyone on this forum appears to have an upbeat personality and a can do attitude. That's the type of people I like to surround myself with, but, unfortunately, have found very few my age. Therefore I seek like-minded people in forums. I have been reading this forum for about 3 weeks and I must say I really enjoy reading the real-estate, stock, and success story pages.

Anyways, on to a bit of my life story and where I have been from and what I am to now.

I'm 18 years old and I just graduated high school. I am enrolled for fall semester at the local community college with economics as my major. I plan to possible, depending on the situation then (it would be foolish to plan everything out -- at the rate things are going I could be all over the map in 4 years) I would like to get an MBA. I only want an MBA if I can get it from a top25 school, thus, I must work hard like I always do and get A's during my first four years of college.

High school wasn't always a cakewalk for me. I sort of had the Robert Kiyosaki attitude during High School, and was genuinely uninterested in a vast majority of the material at hand. After freshmen year, I had nearly had enough but decided to give it summer and go again. As predicted, I dropped out halfway through my sophomore year of high school and got a 0.0 GPA on my report card second semester. I began to work for my Father in his business (he's a Drywall subcontractor) learning how to pursue my dreams of being a general contractor. This was during the top 10% of the market and builders were making fortunes. I knew a 30 year old builder who had used OPM to accumulate a net worth of 10 million dollars. I knew land developers flipping land at 50-60% profit in only a few months time. I wasn't old enough to understand market cycles and dollar signs were glued to my eyeballs. That's not to say, however, that I wasn't interested in becoming a General Contractor for other reasons. I love buildings and high end luxury homes, and building these homes and buildings seemed to be something I was passionate about. I couldn't wait. I was making $12.00 an hour getting the necessary physical construction experience to pursue my dreams. I had nearly $5,500 dollars saved up in just 3 short months when shit hit the fan.

The market crashed virtually overnight and my father was highly involved in houses (and hadn't yet done any commercial property) and as a result his income virtually dropped overnight -- while mainting the same liabilities. He told me that it would be extremely unwise to keep me around from a business standpoint. That coupled with the fact that him and my mother were divorcing, I took it as a queue to go back to High School and get my diploma.

Things I learned during this time of my life:

-When the going is good, get ready for a retrace
-Don't focus on the money -- it will come
-don't invest in penny stocks
-doing business with family is hard
-School isn't about "education"

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I returned to High School more motivated than I had ever been in my entire life. For the first time, I was excited to go to school and for the first time had all my school supplies ready for the first day of school. I was approximately 6 full credits behind or the equivalent of a full year behind (assuming full course load both semesters).

I was enrolled in a credit recovery classroom when I met a hero, Mr. Thompson. I don't think this man to this day fully comprehends how much I appreciate him. He will be the teacher that I will come back to one day and buy a Porsche. He's very dedicated to people who don't even have motivations to get out of bed in the morning. He helps each and ever student to the best of his ability and stays before and after class everyday to help those behind. A true hallmark of what an educational instructor should be.

I busted my ass and finished first semester with a 3.6 GPA (the highest of my life) while simoultaneously making up a half year of high school. The next semester I essentially repeated the same and was on my way to graduate for senior year. I was very proud of myself and my family was as well. I was motivated to suceed and started considering careers in finance. Stocks and wall street were of big interests to me. I started to invest money and ran paper trading accounts dreaming of the day that I might run a Hedge fund. School was out for the summer and I went to work for my Father again at $12.00 an hour.

I began to learn how to read blueprints in construction and submit bids. I attended contract negotiations and learned how my father marketed his business. I saw his downfalls and his perks, and essentially learned how to run a business. He was a real open-book type Dad with me. I could always look at the P & L of the business and learn why we had lost or gained $20,000 that week. For the first time in my life I wrote a business plan on two things:

-An Apartment investment plan (100 units) with partners for no money down out of my pocket (assuming I was a General Contractor)

and

-Gave my Father my youthful input on where he could improve the business.

We began to branch out into commercial and the business started to become the most profitable it has ever been. Things were good.

Things I learned:

-Working hard feels great
-Appreciate those around you and treat them how you would want to be treated
-Respect everyone -- not everyone thinks like you do and don't expect them to
-Stay away from women (or get a prenup )

Senior year started a lot like my Junior year. I was very motivated to continue my success andd really felt like the battle was over. It was downhill from here. I began to focus my energy on other avenues than school and had varying results.

I ran the investment club at my High School and mentored younger students and students of our same age. We began to fundraise for money to invest in the stock market with all of the proceeds going to the school at the end of the year. I taught the kids what I knew about stocks and daytrading, and opened a paper-trading tournament. Things were going good and I was beginning to be respected by my other classmates. I was receiving exceptional returns in the stock market and began to see if I could get a job at Merill & Lynch Co or other brokerages & investment houses. I went in for a consultation/inverview type deal with the vice president of the local Merrill Lynch branch and overall was dissapointed. Rather than seeing a bunch of people in suites yelling "sell" and "buy" and reading charts etc, I saw a bunch of snobby financial advisers that looked at me like I was a complete loser. This wasn't my place.

We had a few guest speakers from various local brokerage houses and one from a mortgage company for our investment club. All of the elders offered invaluable advice to us and I truly made sure to ask as many questions as I could. I believe in respecting your elders and I also believe in keeping your ears open and your mouth closed when you are young. Then something strange happened. The mortgage broker that had came in to talk with us had somehow gotten my number from my teacher. He called me and offered my a part time job doing no brainer marketing for him. I accepted and was employed at my first financial based job making minimum wage. I knew, as an entreprenuer, that I would meet the contacts necessary to suceed in life here and the minimum wage didn't mean anything to me -- I would have worked for free.

I began to kick my entreprenurial talents into full gear, but, due to my youth, made some mistakes. My first mistake was joining a MLM pyramid scheme. I had began working along side an internet marketer that was doing a website for my father and had asked him for advice. He told me I should join him at this YTB meeting, where I would learn to become a travel agent and be able to make tons of money.

I went to the seminar and was sold out of my seat. Everyone in the room was atleast 30 years of age and for the first time I truly felt I knew I was on the right path. I looked at the diagrams and the methods of payment. I listened to their speech on why the travel industry was going to grow exponentially over the next couple of years and why I should get on the boat. Later that night I depleted my savings and started what I thought was my first business. 1 week later I realized I had made a terrible mistake.

I realized that I would make nearly no money selling travel itself, and was basically making money off recruiting others in the scheme. It was too late to get a refund and I felt like a dumbass. I nearly ruined my reputation on websites and my friends looked at my like I was a retard. I was trying to pitch them on an idea and ended up looking like a complete moron. I felt horrible. I felt like I had been scammed.

Then something clicked. I realized that this had happened for a reason as god has a reason for everything. i thanked him for the lesson being taught early on and thanked him that it was only $500. I continued to work hard in school and think of other ideas.

I began doing lots of reading this year on business, real estate, sales, motivating people, winning friends, stocks, investing, and anything else that would be inspiring (busting vegas, from wall street to dubai, etc etc). I was fascinated with becoming wealthy and couldn't wait to purchase my first piece of property hopefully within the next year or two. I was hoping for lamborghini or Ferrari ownership by 21. I continued to work hard and continued to mentor the younger.

About 2 months before graduation I came up with a great idea. I started to import products from china (Ferrari apparel) and then sell them on eBay. My profit marigens were near 100% and I had finally started my first profitable enterprise (since my lemonade stands when I was 6) and felt great about it. I was selling a product that I loved at great prices. Things were good.

I was still employed at the mortgage firm and I realized that the money wouldn't be enough to pay for my college classes in 3 months. I confronted my boss and told him I would be putting in my two weeks to go and work for my Father. He asked me how much my Father was going to pay me and I told him $15.00 an hour. He then told me that I wasn't going to work for my father, and instead, told me that I was going to become a loan officer. I was completely floored as I knew everyone in that office (even in this market) was making over 75k a year as loan officers. I told my family and everyone was excited (this was like 3 weeks ago, might I add) and I actually got my first loan: a $535,000 house for my father that was going to potentially net me $5,500 dollars.

In the mean time my online business began to slow down and my profit was down to about $400 a month. I have realized that I need an ecommerce store but don't know where to start or how to build one. The website I built is very newbish and sucks on most browsers except firefox at 1024x768 resolution. The website is www.ferraristory.com.

Now, 1.5 weeks later, a lot has changed. I have found my father a tri-plex for under 250,000$ that I may get the loan on, but on the flip side my profit on the other house has gone down to be about $2,500 (rates got shitty). I have seen the bad side of the mortgage business now and realize that its not a cakewalk. I am busting my ass to suceed.

I am always thinking of new ideas to try and push my business up to a few thousand dollars profit per month. I really need an ecommerce store so I have been searching for a partner that can handle that side of the business or have been looking for a developer that I can pay to do it for me. I am always thinking of real-estate investment strategies and I am always reading.

That is basically me in a nutshell and the past two years of my life.

I'm glad to be on board and can't wait to meet other people like myself and possible even form partnerships. I look forward to recieving advice from apartment gurus and other entreprenuers on this forum and learning from their successes and failures. I hope to be able to share the knowledge I have gathered about a wide assortment of things and continue to learn.

And last but not least, I would like to hop on the fast lane to millions!

Thanks guys!

Dan



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Wow Dan, awesome intro. You have experienced more at 18 than most people will in their whole lives. Thanks for joining. ++++speed.

Dan - For an 18 year old, you already have a fantastic story! Congratulations on your successes so far, and on your failures (you'll learn that those are just as important)...

Some suggestions based on what you wrote:

- In your investing endeavors, things are never as bad as they seem, and also are never as good as they seem. Your current successes are minor compared to your future successes, but the same will likely be with your failures. Take everything in stride, and don't get too excited or depressed about day-to-day events;

- If you decide to go the college route, take it seriously. It's not like high-school, where the goal is just to finish. The goal is to use the time to really learn the things you need to learn to be successful. Take business courses, finance courses, entrepreneurial courses, etc. For every class you take, read 2-3 textbooks (in other words, learn three classes while you take one);

- If you really want to be an entrepreneur, don't get too enamored with the 9-5 jobs (like the loan officer job). While $75K might seem like a lot of money, it's nothing compared to what you could potentially make on your own. That said, jobs like loan officer might be a great opportunity to learn one part of the business, if your plan is to go into investing. I wish I had spent more time working these types of jobs when I was younger;

- Stay away from MLM (unless you're the one to start it )...

I'm sure others will have more to add, and rest assured that there are a couple guys your age on this forum with similar attitude and aspirations (I'm sure they'll introduce themselves).

Speed++ for the great first post...

Originally Posted by JScott

Dan - For an 18 year old, you already have a fantastic story! Congratulations on your successes so far, and on your failures (you'll learn that those are just as important)...

Some suggestions based on what you wrote:

- In your investing endeavors, things are never as bad as they seem, and also are never as good as they seem. Your current successes are minor compared to your future successes, but the same will likely be with your failures. Take everything in stride, and don't get too excited or depressed about day-to-day events;

- If you decide to go the college route, take it seriously. It's not like high-school, where the goal is just to finish. The goal is to use the time to really learn the things you need to learn to be successful. Take business courses, finance courses, entrepreneurial courses, etc. For every class you take, read 2-3 textbooks (in other words, learn three classes while you take one);

- If you really want to be an entrepreneur, don't get too enamored with the 9-5 jobs (like the loan officer job). While $75K might seem like a lot of money, it's nothing compared to what you could potentially make on your own. That said, jobs like loan officer might be a great opportunity to learn one part of the business, if your plan is to go into investing. I wish I had spent more time working these types of jobs when I was younger;

- Stay away from MLM (unless you're the one to start it )...

I'm sure others will have more to add, and rest assured that there are a couple guys your age on this forum with similar attitude and aspirations (I'm sure they'll introduce themselves).

Speed++ for the great first post...

Hey,

I do everything for a reason. The primary reason i'm becoming a loan officer is so I can be in a profession where I meet contacts all over the place and have access to situations first hand.

For instance, when I was doing entry level marketing for my boss I was sending out flyers for people who had defaulted on their mortgages. When the individual would reply and set up an appointment with him, I would watch and learn. If the person couldn't refinance with my boss into a fixed rate or other mortgage, often times my boss would offer to BUY their house from them. What other profession gives you the insight on that type of thing while simoultaneously inviting investment opportunities.

Another reason i'm dloing it is because it is fairly lucrative, it's good for my finance industry resume, and it will help pay for my college. My boss is very understanding about the whole situation and I will be able to take 4 classes (tuesdays and thursdays full days) while working as well. The thing I notice in the office is the successful Loan Officers aren't the ones that are in the office 60 hours a week. They are the ones out in the field making impressions and meeting people.

Last but not least, I am a Loan officer so I can meet investors and posible get a pertnership in a property by doing a loan or something. The possibilities are endless. Ih have backers right now and if I were to want to I could pretty much buy a house or duplex if its under 220k (they would cosign for me because even though I have the income, I don't have the work history etc). The LO advantage here is I can do my own loan and use my own commission as a down payment.

I've always thought outside of the box and those are some of the things I have came up with so far. I know businesses have much more potential which is why I am trying to expand mine. I understand what makes money but i'm having a hard time getting there by myself. I tried to learn Java, CSS, etc and got as far as a little past basic HTML. Web design isn't for me -- connecting a product and a customer is for me.

Dan

Originally Posted by dbaker89

I do everything for a reason.

In my mind, this is a key difference between Fastlane and Slowlane...

Well said.

Great intro and insight! Thanx for sharing and good luck. ++sp

Welcome! That's one hell of a story! Rep+++

I'm 17, so I'm very familiar with your situation. Glad to see things are really working out for you. I really like the idea of a being a loan officer to help transition into your investment career; I'm considering getting my RE license next year (when I turn 18) to become an agent, which will put me in a similar situation to you.

Welcome!! What a great introduction!! I look forward to reading your posts!

Thank you all for your kind words.

I look forward to growing intellectually, emotionally, and financially with everyone here. I hope all of us young can get together in 5 years in Las Vegas in lambo's and ferraris to say we did it.

Welcome Dan to the Fastlane and thx for posting the great story ... it reads like a lifetime story yet, you're only 18. I'm sure we can expect that story to grow into bigger and better things based on your activity level ,,, you don't sound like one to sit around and play XBox 10 hrs a day!

Originally Posted by PhxMJ

Welcome Dan to the Fastlane and thx for posting the great story ... it reads like a lifetime story yet, you're only 18. I'm sure we can expect that story to grow into bigger and better things based on your activity level ,,, you don't sound like one to sit around and play XBox 10 hrs a day!

Thanks MJ.

I have lots of ideas for online stuff but I have yet to find someone who can bring the capital necessary or the skills necessary to make it happen.

The problem i'm noticing in my industry is that my age is working against me and my only clients are my family and close friends.

My online business, however, people assume i'm 30-40 anyways and it doesn't work against me. And it requires low capital.