Going Hard- Conquering the Seattle Real Estate Market

***Disclaimer- I know I’ve gone a little soft in the past few posts and gotten a little deep so here is your uncensored post proving I am still pretty Harrrrd. Enjoy.***

(The following paragraph may require some knowledge of baseball)

Photo Credit- Mr. Empey

The bases were loaded, I was 12 and we were down a run in the 4^th inning in the district all-star baseball tournament. I remember these specific details quite well.

Homeboy on the mound thought it would be a good idea to try and sneak a fastball by on the outside corner, clearly he was scared. I was in fact the clean-up hitter and at 12 years old, I was 6ft tall and I'm sure a bit intimidating.

I swung hard, real hard and crushed the hell out of that fastball for an opposite field grand slam, giving us the lead and what would be the winning runs.

Now I am not trying to live in the past with this post, but rather to explain my take on things. I have always been and all or nothing type of guy. Mediocrity just seems too damn boring.

It was always a strike out or a home run, a no hitter or a bad loss where I’d walk (or bean) like 8 dudes (some on purpose out of frustration).

Confidence/Swag/Boldness/ whatever you’d like to call it

Excerpt from Robert Greene’s Phenomenal book The 48 Laws of Power

Law 28- Enter Action with Boldness

If you are unsure of a course of action, do not attempt it. Your doubts and hesitations will infect your execution. Timidity is dangerous: Better to enter with boldness. Any mistakes you commit through audacity are easily corrected through more audacity. Everybody admires the bold; no one honors the timid.

Photo Credit - Ian Sane

Got Swag? Why the hell not?

Why do anything half way? Why not enter into anything you do with boldness?

Swing for the damn fences already, life is too short as it is.

That is what I have tried to do for the past 3 years and documented here on this blog. While not everything has always been perfect, I have created an amazing life for myself and enjoyed experiences and places most people my age only dream of. I am uninterested in what others say is foolish, impossible or not practical. I am interested in doing amazing things, living an amazing life and becoming the best I can be in all areas of interest I pursue.

Set Big Ass Goals

• ·         When I was 330lbs I set a goal compete as a bodybuilder. I ended up losing 100lbs and deciding stepping on stage wasn’t nearly as important to me as just being in good shape. But the crazy goal drove me forward getting me close, showing me what I really wanted.
• ·         When I wanted to start traveling I set a goal to live abroad 3 months a year. I did this not once but twice and after seeing much of Europe and South America, I was content to stay home for a while and build a solid foundation in Seattle, but make a point to take sporadic long term trips throughout life.
• ·         I wanted to build a popular blog, get a few hundred hits per day. This is something that really took off and I was astonished that I pulled in my one millionth visitors earlier this year and my following shows me that there are a whole bunch of people that this message resonates with.

Not all my goals have worked out, but most of them did. The one certainty is that the goals I didn’t write down never even got off the ground.

So What Am I Doing These Days?

In a word, Hustlin’.

I started my career in real estate when I was 18 years old and did quite well for myself before the market crashed, buying a few properties before I turned 20. Of course the market crashing took away my income and wealth I had built and this downfall was what propelled me to make many positive life altering decisions, many of which I’ve documented here on this blog. This momentary defeat in retrospect was a mere bump in the road that has driven me forward with a new energy.

Having been down to my last dollar many times and spending my last few quarters on a beer or two, I know a little bit about struggling now. Trust me, that shit isn’t fun. But it sure creates a hunger inside you.

Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face. ― Mike Tyson

I hit the mat hard, but I got back up, I always will, til death.

Stunningly enough I feel much better having hit bottom. I feel relentless with nothing to lose and it is pretty damn liberating. After all there is more than one billionaire in this world that at one time has been bankrupt.

My City

Photo Credit- JustunMarty

I returned to Seattle in December and after a brief hiatus and world wandering I have returned to the real estate business here with one goal. I will become the best realtor in Downtown Seattle, focusing my efforts on the in-city condominium market.

I’ve been doing pretty damn well so far and have managed to drum up quite a bit of business, but I am not aspiring to make a mere living. Naturally, I want to conquer the market and crush all competitors.

I am made for the big city atmosphere. When I arrive in downtown an immediate feeling overcomes me, a different energy arrives to deal with the frenetic pace of the city. I was made for this.

I know as a buyer I would want to work with an agent who was young and hungry, not withered and comfortable. After hitting bottom, I know that I can never and will never lose that hunger.

I am, forever, a shark. I will take on all comers relentlessly. The time is perfect and the condo market in downtown is heating up. Better yet no one is doing it right. There is blood in the water, its kill time. The absence of hunger around downtown is alarming, no one seems to want to step up and conquer the market.

I do though.

Goal- Sell $5 million of real estate in the next 12 months

I'm swinging for the fences and aiming for the top of those high-rises.

Used to not be allowed in the building, but now we on the rooftops-Wiz Khalifa

Up we go…