Hi, Ya'll...Karen here. Steven and I are thrilled to have David's guidance and expertise, as we are new real estate investors. We met David last January when he bought my mother's house in Memphis. We liked and trusted him right off, and were fortunate to have discovered him over the internet. Working with him on the sale was what convinced us to become investors after talking about it for 2 years. I have always been in "helping" professions, and never realized how a real investor could help others until we met David. My mother was happy to unload her house and move to Middle Tennessee, and I am happy I don't have to worry about selling it, as it had not been updated in many years and did not even have central air!

Steven and I are still looking for our first deal. We live in Ashland City, about 20 miles NW of Nashville, but are focusing our investing efforts in Nashville because property values are higher and there is more opportunity. We were somewhat hindered our first couple of months because I am from Memphis and Steven is from the Chicago area, so we did not know the neighborhoods very well. Joining our local REIA group, which meets monthly, has helped us become more familiar with the hot areas of Nashville for investors.

Today we researched the leads David sent us, and sent an email to one so far, asking to meet with her and view the home. It sounds promising, as she has equity and is pricing it below the tax appraisal already. We also hand addressed envelopes to out-of-state property owners who have homes in Davidson Co. A new investor friend who now deals only in raw land gave us the list, which was a great gift!

I also tracked down my college sorority sister, whose family owns a real estate company in New Orleans. Dana was raised in a real estate investing environment and bought her first rental when she was 22, while I was dreaming about restoring old homes but had no idea how to make it happen. I was hoping to get insight into the real estate environment in New Orleans (where I used to live), as I was reading in Property Investment magazine this afternoon about the various investment opportunities there. However, I found out that her husband got transferred to Australia for 3 years so of course she went with him. She told me via email that housing is about 4 times what it is in the U.S. so she is NOT living in her Down Under dream house. She also said driving on the opposite side of the road is scary.

Anyway...we usually watch House Hunters on HGTV after dinner each evening...so it's time to go. Yes, to some it may sound like a bit dull but we love our life, and are looking forward to coaching with David and snowballing some great deals. Talk to you tomorrow!