A funny thing happens when you nearly drown — you start to think about what you really want to do with your life. You lose patience with the obstacles holding you back. Like the 9-to-5 grind, a whopping 2 weeks’ vacation per year, and not quite enough money to pay the bills each month, much less for any of the extras that make life real special. It was on the Ganges River in India. I was on a raft with some friends, crashing through Class 5 rapids when I suddenly found myself overboard and underwater. A near death experience does wonders for your life. When I finally surfaced and stopped choking, I realized my friends had been laughing. For them, this had been a spectacle. For me, it was a new beginning. I knew the time had come to stop dreaming and finally become the entrepreneur I always wanted to be. In the past, it seemed that the time wasn’t right. On that day I realized it would never be exactly right. It was up to me to make it so. And that’s just what I did! I ran out, quit my job, and fell flat on my face a few months later. Teetering on the edge of financial ruin, once again my friends were laughing. But this time they tried to hide it behind a facade of polite concern. But I knew they were thinking. “We knew he’d never make it. He should have kept his good job while he had it.” But that near-death experience had changed me. And I kept at it. After flipping my first property, I paid some bills and went on a vacation to Italy. My business and lifestyle took off and I’ve never looked back. Now my old friends aren’t laughing anymore. Yes, one deal can change it all! Since then I’ve been featured by CNBC, Kiplinger’s Magazine, The Washington Post, The Washington Examiner, Financial Lifeline Radio, and the National Real Estate Investors Association’s Magazine, among others. Success brings its own breed of problems. You want to be able to keep your business running without having it interfere with your vacations and time with family. For fun, I’m racing a friend to see who can be the first to visit 100 different countries! I am currently at 86. The answer was in modern technology. I figured out how to structure my business so that I can operate remotely from anywhere in the world and no one even knows I’m gone. Sure enough, people started asking me “How do you do it?” The truth is there have been ups and downs, I’ve made mistakes, and have had my share of frustrations and setbacks, as well as my share of growth and dizzying success. A teacher at heart, I’ve now helped hundreds of average people to replace their income, quit their jobs, and turn full time to real estate investing. It may sound funny, but I think of this as saving lives — saving them from debt, isolation from family, income & lifestyle limitations, and sheer boredom! All this led me to where I am now: Active investor, President of Traction Real Estate Investors Association (www.TractionREIA.com) and Founder of Traction Real Estate Mentors (http://TractionRealEstateMentors.com). And I sit on the Board of the National Real Estate Investors Association. I’m now asked to speak across the US and overseas at seminars, workshops and bootcamps. I share what I’ve learned through talks about how to “Find, Flip and Fund for BIG Profits,” “Power Negotiating A-to-Zeeb” and “The Automated Millionaire: Leveraging Technology for Freedom.” And I feel grateful that people find my talks to be entertaining, informative, and above all – practical. Some may wonder, so I’ll tell you. I graduated from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio and the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom. However, everything financially worthwhile I learned afterwards. If you are looking to quit your job and build your own mini real estate empire, or just to build a separate income stream to support your family and enhance your lifestyle, fill out this short form to request a Personalized Strategy Session. http://www.TractionMentors.com/strategy