Dwan Twyford
Throughout my adult life, I have worked an endless string of dead-end jobs ranging anywhere from waiting tables at Denny’s, to selling vitamins on the phone, to owning a chain of tanning salons. I didn’t see myself become a real estate investor at the time. Most of the jobs in my past paid okay, but they were unrewarding and required me to work overtime. I went from job to job searching for something that I could really sink my teeth into without much success. I thought I had found it with the tanning salons. As it turned out, I was tied to the salon seven days a week. Every weekend when one of my girls called in sick, guess who had the privilege of working? Right… me! I got to the point where I hated the business because of the insane hours.
At the age 29, I was married, had a baby on the way, and life was looking good. Nevertheless, things happened, and a year later, I found myself single-handedly raising an eight-month old daughter and going through a divorce. Life as a single mom had definitely not been in my game plan! I needed to go back to work, but the idea of leaving my daughter in day-care, working for someone else all day, and then paying my hard-earned money to the day-care center, was unacceptable. This just wasn’t the sacrifice I was willing to make! I needed an NEW game plan and quickly.
As fate would have it, around this time I met a group of people who seemed to be leading a leisurely life… golf everyday, always travelling, constantly going out, and spending money freely. You name it, they were doing it. It turns out they were real estate investors. I knew I had found the answer to my prayers. Being a real estate investor would allow me the freedom to work from home and raise my daughter myself. I learned as much as I could and went for it.
I bought my first dump and went to town! I became such a “regular” at Home Depot – the helpers would run from me. They knew if they stopped to answer “just one quick question,” I would keep them for an hour asking details about my next step of rehab. I took all the weekend classes they offered, learned what I could, and got my rehab underway. I did all the work on the property myself: paint, tile, and plumbing. You name it – I did it. I started to see a light at the end of the tunnel. The more I worked, the better my property looked. After the repairs were completed, I put the house on the market, sold it four days later, made over $20,000 on my first transaction, and never looked back.
Being a real estate investor has been such an incredible life-changing opportunity for me, and the past few years have been truly blessed! I met a wonderful man at a real estate seminar and we got married! Along with Bill, came two bonus kids. Now we are a family of five having a blast together. I have never been happier!
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