Earlier this year, I shared with you Eden April Alemania’s story about the first auction of bank foreclosed properties she attended where she bought her first property. Her journey did not stop there.
From her first deal, she went on to her other deals to become a real estate entrepreneur. And it doesn’t even stop there; she’s opened doors to becoming a speaker.
Read her speech in the Rookie of the Year Toastmaster’s contest last December 2009:
Don’t you just love blankets? They feel so soft, snug and warm. When I was a kid, Lola said I can’t sleep without one. I would even drag it with me when I play.
I thought I outgrew the habit but it just evolved to something else.
Growing up, I was enveloped by a blanket of security in the form of little pleasures.
Most of it in the form of money such as being enrolled in private schools, a cell phone and an allowance.
Upon graduation, I was afraid to go out of the confines of my comfortable shell simply because I didn’t know what to expect. Part of the worry stems from not getting an allowance!
Little did I know that being employed is also another blanket in disguise. Let me explain why:
I started my career as a chemical engineer in a semiconductor firm.
I was covered by PD1530. (you know what that means?) It is payday 15th and 30th. Getting a monthly paycheck became my source of security. It went on for almost 3 years until I got to the point where I became physically exhausted.
Whenever I render overtime hours to the company, sometimes unpaid, I would say to myself, wouldn’t it be better if I dictate how much money I will get instead of people telling me how much I am worth in pesos?
I loved my job but there are uncontrollable aspects such as pay cuts and unpaid overtime and I can’t do anything about them simply because I am not in charge.
Suddenly, I realized that my job was just another blanket and that the blanket felt too snug, too warm and too soft for comfort. I didn’t like it.
Then, talks of recession in the first world countries emerged where people are losing their jobs! Then, I experienced the biggest lightbulb moment of my life. There is no security in employment! I could’ve been the one laid off, downsized, fired! The blanket that I’ve been clinging on to isn’t real.
And it hit me like a brick on my head!
I don’t need to be employed to have money. Because money is just an idea, and it is easy to make money.
Let me say that again. Money is just an idea, and it is easy to make money. (I had to repeat this to myself a lot of times before I really believed this statement.)
How did I do it? I took the path of entrepreneurship.
I began dabbling into real estate. (To learn how Eden started in real estate, Grab a seat in the Think Rich Pinoy Seminar)
Early on in my career as an investor, I was approached by a property seller who cannot sell his house in Tagaytay and is willing to sell it for just Php600,000 or 40% of its value.
You know what I did, I sold it for Php1Million.
And I got a Php100,000 fee from it.
Now, where did that Php100,000 come from? Is that even legal? That value came from my head. I dictated how much my service will cost. And yes, it is perfectly legal. It is called wholesaling. (see Eden’s blog for the actual deal)
And to top that, I never even set foot on the property. He practically sold the property by himself. All I did was to send him leads. That, I realized, is my core gift. I know how to market real estate. That is what I am passionate about. That should be what I should have been holding on to all my life.
So, again, money is just an idea. And it is easy to make money.
I’ve been covered by blankets all my life.
And these blankets? I don’t need anymore.
– Eden April Alemania
To meet Eden and Larry Gamboa, grab a seat in the Think Rich Pinoy Seminar this coming December 4, 2010.
Click here to download more information about the Think Rich Pinoy Seminar (please feel free to forward to your friends).
To our success and financial freedom!
Jay Castillo
Real Estate Investor
Real Estate Broker License #: 20056
Blog: https://www.foreclosurephilippines.com
Follow me in Twitter:http://twitter.com/jay_castillo
Find us in Facebook:Foreclosure Philippines facebook page
Text by Jay Castillo and Cherry Castillo. Copyright © 2010 All rights reserved.
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This is a great article. I am also writing articles about financial freedom. If you may allow, I am posting a link (you can remove it if it is not ok with you):
http://www.gayward-concepts.com/your-allies-to-financial-freedom/
This article is all about our “Allies to Financial Freedom”.
Thank you in advance! I hope you will allow my post. More power to your site.
🙂
It’s a very inspiring blog. I understand how Eden feels. I too am enclosed in a too warm blanket. I just need the motivation to do get out of it.
Wow, its really inspiring to see Edens story and how she managed to step out of being a regular employee to a Real Estate Entrepreneur! You helped rekindle fire in many Filipinos ready this blog Jay, may God Bless you!
Way to go Eden. Way way back you were planning to have 10 rent to own houses. Look where you are now.
You are now an investor and a speaker. Can’t wait to see you on one of your speeches. Kudos!
Hi Francis, you should have seen Eden at the Money and Wealth Summit 2010, she was awesome! I guess being a toastmaster really helps bring out the best speaker in you. I am not yet a toastmaster but I have plans to join them once I finish my plans for the rest of this year and the coming year. We are just about to build our house and I am also going to introduce a lot of improvements here based on readers’ feedback. By the way, I really need everyone’s feedback, please answer this survey: http://bit.ly/fipsurvey if you have not done so yet. Thank you to all who have answered!
Do we have already a schedule for seminars this coming 2011? I’ll be having my vacation this February 2011 and it’s unfortunate to miss the seminar this December 2010. Thanks!
Hi Noel, as far as I know they hold this on a quarterly basis, and one is held near end of Februaury but I will have to check with the organizers and get back to you. Thanks for the comment!
Glad to see this post. It’s an inspiring and at the same time good wake up call for people like us who are still in the industry of working for others. I can relate to Eden’s story, you put up more hours at work and later on realize you are spending your most precious commodity which is time and your most precious leverage which is your brain for other people’s benefit.
Here in UAE where I work, you can hear people not happy with what they are doing but still have to do it because people depend on them at home or they are deep in debt due to placement fees.
I and my fiancee are taking the first step through attending the seminar on the 4th. We’re just keeping our fingers crossed, hopefully someday, we too could make it big like you, Eden, Larry and Trace.
Kudos for all the great work foreclosure philippines has done for us Pinoys. Keep it up!
Hi Zene, you nailed it when you said “…you are spending your most precious commodity which is time and your most precious leverage which is your brain for other people’s benefit”. I’m glad you said this because a lot of people don’t realize this at all.
Of course there are those who have found their dream jobs where the company they work for gives them a just compensation and “work life balance” but I believe majority of people are stuck at the losing end of not so ideal jobs.
Yes I’m sure you can do it, anybody can, the key is making the decision and acting upon that decision, we always have a choice to do so. Thanks for the kind words and I hope to see you at the seminar, I might help facilitate the cashflow games in the afternoon. 🙂