I don’t know about you guys, but this year has been one amazing year! I started investing in real estate full time around this time two years ago, and I was struggling somewhat until November 2004.

I changed my business philosophy and started listening more and more to what the sellers want. I began to see great results. Since then, I have bought a total of eleven properties, and I am waiting to close on two more. I have several others in the pipeline.

My life has changed drastically. Now I have the financial freedom and flexibility that I would never have imagined in such a short time frame. Of the eleven deals I bought, I have sold two and made about $65,000 total.

I'll be closing on another sale next week for a profit of about $20,000. (This will be the one with the lowest profit margin. But then, I have spent only about $2,500 in this deal.) Thanks to these eleven deals, my net worth has gone from pretty much zero to more than $500,000 in a 12-month time frame.

I know that beginners like myself tend to exaggerate actual value of houses. But unlike other newbies, I'm very conservative. I analyzed everything carefully and took into consideration all the costs associated with selling a house before declaring any number.

My plan has been working beautifully, and now I have the knowledge, experience, and confidence to secure at least one good deal per month. I get my deals mainly by looking at ads, referrals, and by networking with flippers and wholesalers. As a result, my marketing costs are pretty much nothing.

In the beginning, I kept telling people how little time I spent working on this business. Well, because real estate investing became my passion and hobby, I've been living and breathing it without consciously realizing it.

Even though I probably spend about forty hours each week doing things related to real estate, I love it so much that I don’t consider it work at all. I feel like I'm getting paid really, really well for playing.

This year has been fun, and I hope that I'll continue to experience the same, if not more successful success in 2006. I wish you all the best, as well. -