About Struggling Investor

I’m Scott.  I am a 38 year old guy from Northern New Jersey who wholesales real estate as a side business.  My full time job is a software developer for an engineering company.  Most importantly though I am a family man first!

I don’t hate my day job, in fact I sorta like it.  Problem is that it keeps me away from my family.  10 hours a day at work, then 2 hours a day with my son?  Not what I want by a long shot.

Meet My Family…

Scott | Test Dummy

Scott is the Chief Struggling Investor here at the blog.  He is the Writer, Editor, Test Dummy and all around great guy.  Giving of himself and treating people like he would want to be treated are his best qualities.

Valarie | CEO

Valarie is the rock behind the success.  She keeps a skeptical eye on things as Scott progresses towards replacing his full time job and financial freedom.  The encouragement pours in when she sees a check!

Ben | The Boss

Ben is the true inspiration for the business.  He rules with an iron fist and is not afraid to tell us “Give ME MILK” for an hour straight until we give in.  We like to pretend we are in charge, but really what Ben says goes!

My Story

At about the time I was to marry my beautiful wife, I heard about this book from Robert Kiyosaki called Rich Dad, Poor Dad.  You can count me in on the vast amount of Real Estate Investors that got their start with this book.  It really changed the way I thought about money and my self worth.

Personally I am a very reserved person.  Heck, in high school I was voted the quietest and the most shy person in my class.  What I am though is very determined!  I love a challenge and will not give up until I succeed.

I started to actively try and Wholesale Properties when I was 32.  I say Try because it took me almost 2 years before I got my first deal.  Every step of the process was a struggle for me…one personal roadblock after another.   Can you relate to any of these?

  • Not knowing enough to get started
  • Not having enough money
  • Losing a lot of money
  • Letting my family down
  • Talking on the phone with sellers
  • Talking on the phone with buyers
  • Making offers
  • Was I breaking the law in any way?
  • What would I do if I got an offer accepted?
  • Am I taking advantage of people in need?
  • Would I fail?

Six year later many of those fears and roadblocks have been overcome.  There are always new hurdles popping up all the time though…which is a good thing!  I’ve learned a few lessons over the years.  The most important of which is…if you are constantly being challenged and are able to struggle and fight your way through…You Will Succeed!

So Why The Struggling Investor Blog

I created this blog in the hopes that it would not only help me stay motivated and accountable but to provide encouragement to other new real estate investors.  Through stories about my experiences and tips and tricks that I’ve learned along the way, I believe Struggling Investor has become a great resource.

Please don’t misunderstand the name Struggling Investor, it is not a literal description of how my investing is going but more of a reference to working hard to become a full time investor.  In order to be successful I believe you must struggle through the journey.  This struggle is how we all learn and get better, how we become masters of our domain (I love Seinfeld by the way!).

Please feel free to subscribe to my newsletter below and get exclusive real estate investing tips, tools that I use and lessons learned.

Some Great Places to Get Started

It’s crazy to say this, but I’ve written over 650 posts since the beginning.  For sure there are some good posts as well as some bad ones.  Here are a few posts I’ve specifically picked out for you that might help you get to know me better and perhaps point you in the right direction in terms of your real estate investing.

Also, here is a list of some tools and forms that I’ve either created or have used that have been invaluable to me so far..

Comments 36

  1. Post
    Author

    Hi Scott!

    Love your blog sir. I am a successful real estate investor in an odd niche: I buy affordable homes for cash and owner finance them. Bottom line: 12-15% ROI, no ongoing maintenance headaches, and a blue collar family gets a shot at the American Dream.

    What does one need to do to become a contributor on your site? Do you accept contributions?

    Samples:
    https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/three-reasons-i-only-owner-finance-real-estate-joseph?trk=pulse_spock-articles
    https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/4-ugly-real-estate-investing-train-wrecks-how-avoid-joseph?trk=pulse_spock-articles
    https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-you-should-never-pay-20544-real-estate-guru-joseph?trk=pulse_spock-articles

    Keep up the good work sir.

    Respectfully,

    Joseph M. Pickett
    210-865-0742
    jmpickett@gmail.com

    Reply

    1. Hey Joseph,

      I don’t like to over due the guest posts but I’m definitely willing to have a guest post if the article is something I don’t cover myself and I think it would be great value to my readers. Send me an email with some topic ideas and we can discus further.

      Reply
  2. Post
    Author

    Hey Scott, I just want to say that your story is very inspiring and the business plan really got my mind turning on things I could do. I’m just getting started in wholesaling and I’m a family man like yourself do it’s good seeing others in similar situations doing what I want to do. I’m curious how the business is going now?

    Reply

    1. Hey Benjamin,

      Business has been on a bit of a plateau. I’m partnering with other wholesalers right now on all my deals because of a lack of time. Even with that though I’ve seen a slow growth in my wholesaling business and also my online business as well.

      Thanks for asking,
      -Scott

      Reply
  3. Post
    Author

    Hey Scott, nice posts and tons of usable information. I learn a lot as you chronicle each of your journeys. I have been in real estate off and on due to my day job as a postmaster. I relate to your struggle finding time and putting energy and effort to your real estate business. This year, I decided to treat this is a business. I signed up with Investor Carrot (wish I knew you’re an affiliate) and making some changes for my market. Still going through the modules but I believe I’m making progress. I’d be happy to share any knowledge I’ve gained but I’m sure you have your site the way you like it. Hope all is well. Happy investing.
    Let’s go full time!

    Reply
  4. Post
    Author

    Hi Scott

    In your video that you posted on your Podio now exclusive… blog post you wrote some code to print a lead from a Podio record as a PDF. You had put HTML code into the content field of a record then linked another record to create a PDF from this content. Could you please share with me the process for creating that button or what plugin you are using to do this.

    Thank you
    Struggling Art Dealer

    Reply

    1. Hi Geoffrey,

      The magic behind that is not something that can be shared and duplicated easily. You would have to know how to work with the Podio API as well as PHP to make it work.

      -Scott

      Reply
  5. Post
    Author

    1. SI Lead Manager v6 (Free version) was the predecessor to SI v7 (Paid) and is no longer available. SI v7 was reworked from the ground up to be more flexible, powerful and easier to use. While it shares many of the same features, it also removed the dependency on Microsoft Office, adding Tagging, advanced filtering and searching of leads, custom campaign templates and more.

      Both are desktop only software for PCs running windows.

      Reply
  6. Post
    Author

    Hi Scott,

    I’m a big fan of your site and appreciate all of the detailed information that you provide. I was just curious to find out when you will be putting out REI Flow. You mentioned that you were still working on it, however I find myself coming to you website often to see if it is available.

    After watching the initial video, it seems like you have made some adjustments that fit the natural flow of a real estate lead very well, so I’m anxious to see the final product. Just hoping you’d be able to give a rough idea as to when it will be available to purchase.

    Thanks!

    Jordan

    Reply

    1. Hi Jordan,

      I’d love to be able to give you an estimate of when it will be out. There is just a ton to do and it would be tough to judge because some of the things I’m doing for the first time.

      Reply
  7. Post
    Author

    Scott,

    I understand the continuing struggle and need to motivate yourself through the difficulties. I am a 51 year old CPA and family man as well, so I understand the time constraints. I have been at it a few years and was flipping some in the past few years and am now attempting wholesaling just like you in my spare time. I picked up my RE license a couple of years ago while flipping, which just added to the difficulty of marketing as everything I use now has to be approved by my broker and all materials have to prominently display my broker!

    Keep up the good work in trying to keep people motivated! It truly is the hardest thing to do with losses from the RE learning curve and the mistakes of buying into Guru courses out there.

    Reply
  8. Post
    Author

    Hi!

    I should start by introducing myself; however, I’m going to start by saying thanks for putting up great content on your website related to real estate investing.

    Because we, at RentalRookie, are always looking to help our audience grow in their investing we have featured your site on one of our recent blog posts: 50 Real Estate Investing Websites to Motivate You To Take Action. Here’s the link to check it out: http://rentalrookie.com/blog/50realestateinvestingblogs

    Feel free to share that you have been featured on our site! You can click the following link to tweet this out to your followers: http://ctt.ec/wxP6a

    Oh yeah, I almost forgot! I’m Emily and the founder of RentalRookie.com a site dedicated to helping the ‘rookie’ buy and hold investor. I’d love to connect sometime if you ever feel that there may be some synergy between our sites.

    All the Best,

    Emily Du Plessis

    Reply
  9. Post
    Author

    Cool stuff man; I have a similar story and I’m also nearby (geographically). I quit the “day job” in 2003 and continue to do real estate and real estate related work ever since. The corp gig I had was in same line of work but have been on my own for a pretty long time now. If you ever wanna grab a coffee and discuss ideas etc. let me know! We run out of the Square One Coworks in Bloomfield, NJ. Lemme know — I’ll grind up some beans and and make a few cups!

    Reply
  10. Post
    Author

    Hi Scott!! Thanks for sharing insight on your blog, it’s now my go-to for Podio questions.

    I’m currently struggling because I have a new business and honestly Podio Premium isn’t in the budget quite yet, and I have enough users that it would be a significant expense. The only thing I need to do is pull mailing addresses from an Organization App into a Contacts App in a format that can be mail merged. I got the information pulled over via a .join() but the zip code from the Location field is in the wrong place. I am still using the free version, and would like to keep it that way as long as possible. Do you have any ideas on how to resolve this issue?

    I will note, I’ll have to move up to a paid version at some point, but until we have consistent cash flow I’m trying to minimize expenses.

    Thanks!

    Shannon

    Reply

    1. Hi Shannon,

      Would you mind showing me the calculation field’s calculation you are using? That would help me understand what you are trying to do better and perhaps what is wrong if anything.

      Reply
  11. Post
    Author

    Love what you’ve done with the excel-property-lead-manager.

    Have you considered allowing access to import existing sheets? I work off excel, but what you’ve done will provide a tremendous amount of added value. I’m no expert with excel but I tried simply mirroring your headers, and pasting in a small data set and it won’t allow it without entering a password to unprotect the sheet.

    Or is there a function I missed where I can import an existing list? I have approximately 700 records I’m actively working and I’d like to NOT have to add each record individually.

    Thoughts?

    Also,two things, your family looks amazing, you’ll look happy and that’s an amazing place to be! I’d love to make a donation for your efforts, where can I go to do that?

    Reply

    1. Hi Jason,

      The excel property lead manager was just put together to help people get started and to provide a good base for people to build off of. The protection can be lifted by using the password ‘StrugglingInvestor’.

      You have some good ideas on how to enhance the application for sure, but as of now my efforts are focused on building out my Podio solution called REIFLOW.

      And thank you for the kind words about my family and your offer of a donation. There is no need, just spread the word about my site if you think it could help someone out 🙂

      All my best!
      -Scott

      Reply
  12. Post
    Author

    1. Hi Paula,

      I’m sorry but I do not offer mentoring or coaching to my readers. I’ll gladly answer questions the best I can, but my time constraints do not allow me to mentor or coach.

      All my best,
      -Scott

      Reply
      1. Post
        Author
  13. Post
    Author

    Scott, great job on this website. I was just cruising around the net looking at other REI website and found yours. I appreciate your zeal for wanting to help other investors get their business off of square 1. You take a very honest and simple approach which is what newbies need to hear. Hope business in Jersey is good for you, take care.

    Reply
  14. Post
    Author

    Hi Scott-

    I am an investor based out of the Seattle market, looking to break into SEO.
    While I am planning on working with Investor Carrot to get the website up and going I am wondering about how to do the SEO myself. Does it take about 10 hours of work per week to be able to get the leads flowing like milk and honey in about 6 months?

    Reply

    1. Hi Solomon!

      The good thing about investor carrot is they have TONS of tutorials and guidance on how to do the SEO yourself. As far as how much time it will take to get the leads flowing in? That really depends on your competition for the keywords you are after. Could be 5 hours a month or 10 hours a week when you first get started.

      -Scott

      Reply
  15. Post
    Author

    Hey Scott, big fan of your blog. I wanted to send you an email about some ideas for some great articles I would be willing to write for a guest post on your blog. If you’d be open to that, I would really appreciate the opportunity. Pls let me know your email and I will send some ideas over.

    Reply
  16. Post
    Author
  17. Post
    Author

    Hey Scott. I’m just about to push out V2.0 of my Podio based system, I’d be interested to chat with you on some of the stuff that you have built out for yours. Do you have time to jump on a zoom call next week?

    Thanks,
    Justin

    Reply

    1. Hey Justin,

      Very sorry for the LATE LATE reply but with all the coronavirus stuff going around closing my kids school and dealing with 9to5 crap I’ve had no time. I’d love to see your V2.0 of your podio system sometime but unfortunately I can’t right now. Shoot me an email in a few months and I should have more time.

      Reply
  18. Post
    Author

    Scott, Ive been trying to get REIFlow integrated with my Podio but the REIflow webpage says there is an error and that the REIFlow product is not for sale? If it’s still available I’d like to purchase the monthly subscription.

    Reply
  19. Post
    Author

    Hey Scott,

    Heard you on the biggerpockets podcast. Love it! I’m from New Jersey as well. Would love to connect with you and learn from you. I’m young and just getting started, could use a mentor. Please reach out!

    Reply

    1. Hi Shivam! Thanks for coming over to my blog. I’ve taken a different direction since my bigger pockets podcast appearance. I create Podio based products and do some blogging right now.

      Best of luck to you and investing!

      Reply
  20. Post
    Author
  21. Post
    Author

    Scott Hi! I came across the video you posted in 2015 about the Excel Direct Mail management spreadsheet and then learned about SI Lead Manager v7, are you still in the business? I’m a solo investor/realtor in NJ and really need tools like this! Can we schedule a call please?

    Reply

    1. Hi Matt,

      Both of those tools unfortunately are not available anymore. Advancements in Excel and Windows caused those tools not to work and I had to pull them because not enough people had interest. Most people want web based tools. I’d look into Podio if I were you as it’s reasonably priced and very powerful, though there is a learning curve. I have plenty of tutorials on Podio on my blog.

      Hope that helps!

      Reply

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