Well, I have to be honest here.....I was just reading an article on Ryan Dehler's blog (if you haven't read his profile, make sure you go to see it here http://www.realestateinvestor.com/Ryandehler/ ) about how he got started and I have to admit that it made me want to write my story. Currently I own a website ( www.FloridaPropertyClub.com ) and I've been in the mortgage industry for 6 years. We've worked every kind of mortgage and hard money deal possible but that's for another VERY long blog.

The Prologue.....starts like many great stories where I was in college, UCF, and had no idea what I wanted to be. I've been around sales all my life and had just watched Boiler Room ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0181984/ ) and decided that stock broker was the life for me. Unfortunately the year was 2001 and I'm not sure if you know but the market basically cut in half and 90% of stock brokers were looking for jobs.

So I'm on my way back to Orlando from spring break in Key West and I stop at my sister's place in Boca Raton. She takes me and my buddy out to the sickest VIP club South Beach has to offer ( I met P diddy, lionel richie, paris and I swear nicky hilton hit on me) and drops like $1,000 on bottles in the club and gives me $ 300 the next day for fun. As many people know in college $ 300 for no reason was like being on the receiving end of Warren Buffet's charity. My sister is a great salesman but I had to know what she did.

When I found out she had become the Boiler Room of the 2000's I immediately signed on. I loved being a mortgage broker. Live hard, play hard, meet millionaires, party like you were one. I think the term in South Florida is fake it till you make it. Long story short, I meet a guy that changed my life.

The Story....OK so the condensed version leads me to buy a house less than one year into real estate. The friend I met was flipping houses as a wholesaler and killing it. So like a smart business man, or thats what I tell myself anyways, I latch on. We found a house in Fort Lauderdale for 400k. The appraised value is 950k. Now to make this a little more understandable this is also 2003. Not today's market. I mean 950k.

We double closed the house with the front end investor becoming my roommate at 400k and closing hard money at 550k. Easy squeezy, 150k easy became the mantra for the house. I took the remaining money and opened a mortgage company with my business partner and went from there to where I am today. Owner of www.FloridaPropertyClub.com. I'm currently directing some investors, consulting some businesses and working as a banker all the while doing everything that needs to be done to keep the real estate investing world close.

I wouldn't change it for the world....What I mean is I wouldn't change my life in real estate to take my original dream of stocks. I love the art of putting a deal together. Real estate is tangible and if you've watched as much cnbc as I have you wouldn't wish that on your worst enemy. Well, maybe that one realtor but thats also another blog.