A Moment in Time Where Past Meets Future

My wife and I spoke with an actual mortgage broker named Mark. We were there to get pre-qualified for a mortgage. There were a lot of interesting things he spoke to us about, and his personality was quite interesting. He said that there are many “mortgage brokers” with that title, but they don’t do much besides inputting numbers into a program. They don’t understand the whole game, or know how to explain much about the qualifying process. Those mortgage brokers, who happened to also be Vice Presidents of nothing, were just middle men typing in your information. He went on talking about real estate, and this is where it got interesting. He said when he purchased real estate back in the 80s he struggled to break even. Now it’s so easy to have basically one of the two units pay for the entire mortgage, leaving the rent from the other unit pure profits. He said back then that a lot of his friends didn’t want to invest in real estate, because it didn’t seem worth it back then. Mark was barely breaking even with the real estate he owned, so his friends didn’t understand why Mark did that. Mark’s reason was that he knew that rents would rise, appreciation on houses would increase long term, and even though there were possible rough real estate markets ahead… the rents would continue to keep coming in. Those houses would still be there even during bad market conditions, while stocks disappeared. (These investors always love either real estate or stocks, not both for some reason?) The reason he kept going down this rough path was because he knew what this investment could become, and he was right. Now he owns a vast real estate portfolio of houses that are paid off, (that are still producing cash flow) and many companies. He is rated top 20 mortgage broker of NY state. He asked about what we are doing, and I explained that we have an online business selling clearance, and explained how we find those clearance products. As I was explaining this, Mark gave me a look that seemed oddly familiar to me, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. He then said that we were very smart. Mark said that we should keep doing what we’re doing, because we are doing great. He then said that the companies he works with are full of entrepreneurial people who have many sources of income flowing in. It’s a very smart thing to do. I thought that was weird but cool, because I’ve never met anyone else say to have multiple sources of income to other people besides me.

Mark then said he works with many different clients. He then mentioned that he prefers working with young people who are determined and want to build their wealth for their future. Instead of working with clients who already have a ton of real estate, who are trying to get a lot more. He mentioned again that we were doing great, and should keep doing what we’re trying to do. When Mark said that, he gave me that look again that seemed oddly familiar to me. 

That’s it! I do know that look! That look! It’s like he’s staring into his past, all of those precious journeys he took when he was young. All of the ups and downs that he experienced. The excitement he felt in the beginning of his wealth journey. Mark could see his young, excited self while looking at me. That look! Is the look I have when I meet people with potential. That’s the same look I have when I’m talking to them about stuff I’m ambitious about. I understand that look now. I was only confused about it because I’ve never experienced that look from someone else before. I looked back at him with a similar look, because I’m looking at what my future will look like. I am doing the exact same strategy as this very successful person in front of me has done. With the resources I have access to right now in this day & age, I have a better chance than he did at the beginning of his journey. We both had the same vision for our futures, and a very overwhelming ambition to make this happen. With all that in mind, Success is a definite possibility, the only question is when will it happen? 

Thanks for reading,

John O. Miranda