Letter Post-Dated April 17, 2006 (continued)
Declarations for Andy’s Business
We had to redesign Andy’s real estate business in Los Altos from the ground up. In the past I relied on referrals exclusively. I took on the challenge of reaching beyond my comfort zone to help people that didn’t know me. I sought out home sellers who were unsuccessful in selling their homes with their previous Realtors. I used the Internet to allow people to find me and get to know me on my blog. I served 60 families and the average price of the homes I sold was $750,000. Some were lower priced. Some were higher priced. They all received outstanding service. Eileen attracted 5 people per month for Andy to serve.
The business team gelled and we have highly skilled player in every position. It’s fun to see the machine run and everyone made a lot of money along the way! Andy became a “Jedi Master” of Real Estate. He’s training and coaching other agents around the country to become “Jedi Realtors,” too. We also launched a new business. It is the foundation of a self-sustaining source of income that generates large amounts of free cash.
Declarations for Finances and Investing
We embraced the concept of 100% tithe. In other words, our money is not really ours. It belongs to God and we are just managing it for him as stewards. We contributed 10% of our manifested earnings to missionary and non-profit causes (e.g. International Justice Mission [Fighting Human Trafficking and Child Prostitution], World Vision [Fighting AIDS in Africa], etc.) We were the answer to someone’s prayer once per month by making a spontaneous donation.
Immediately after our declaration, developers and deal makers contacted Andy about investing in real estate. Wow! Andy found a prospective flipper opportunity, too. In total, we acquired 6 investment properties – including a vacation home to share with friends. All of our investments returned 20% or more on an annual basis. We put $300,000 in the bank. And, we funded all of our retirement, insurance funds, and college savings plans for 2007.
