A million certified downloads marks a significant milestone as I launch Season 7 of the podcast! This achievement comes alongside a deeply personal journey through grief and reflection after losing both my father and my best friend of 30 years within months of each other.
Through tears and vulnerability, I share how real estate investing provided me the ultimate freedom when it mattered most - the ability to spend six full weeks with my father in hospice, to hold his hand as he passed, and to plan a celebration of life that perfectly honored his love for bluegrass, moonshine, poker, and hunting. While family members were restricted to minimal bereavement time from their jobs, I had the freedom to be fully present without financial stress.
The true power of building a real estate business became crystal clear as my VA team kept operations running smoothly for five straight months while I focused on what truly mattered. My sister and I settled my father's entire estate in just 26 hours thanks to proper planning with land trusts and pay-on-death designations - a testament to good preparation.
Now, as I embrace turning 66 with my naturally gray hair (with a touch of pink!), I'm more convinced than ever that real estate investing isn't just about building wealth - it's about creating the space to fully engage with life's most meaningful moments. Whether you're facing challenges or pursuing dreams, having financial freedom transforms how you experience every aspect of life.
Ready to build this kind of freedom for yourself? Visit dwanderful.com and take the real estate investing quiz to assess your risk tolerance and identify your best starting point. Together, let's make 2025 the year we truly thrive!
Thanks again for listening. Don't forget to subscribe, share, and leave a FIVE-STAR review.
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Episode Transcript
Hey, how are you today?
One million downloads, that isright.
The Most Dwanderful Real EstatePodcast Ever has reached over
one million certified downloads.
I am so excited.
What a great way to start offSeason 7 with 1 million listens,
(00:27):
over 1 million certified.
So it is very exciting.
I am happy to be back with you.
If any of you have noticed, Ihave not done any brand new
podcasts for several months.
I took four months off and I'lltell you why.
But first I'm going to have atoast and just cheers to you,
(00:49):
thank you to you.
My heart is just, my love tankis full.
I'm so happy, I'm just so happythat all my hard work because
you know podcasts are a lot ofwork all my hard work and we've
reached a million downloads andwe're growing and we're in the
top 50 in Spotify in thebusiness category.
(01:10):
So thank you, thank you, thankyou, thank you, thank you.
Cheers to you.
I got my little, you know,glass things you put on so we
can have people over.
Everybody knows what glass istheirs.
But I wanted to start off andjust have a little toast and say
thank you to you, because Ireally am just like ever.
(01:30):
I'm so grateful.
I've been working on thepodcast.
I think we're in our sixth yearof doing shows.
So we are officially todaystarting season seven! So
there's a lot to talk about.
We have a new president, werescued people from space.
(01:55):
I mean there's a lot going on.
You know, people are alwaysworried about the market.
What about the market?
What about the market?
What about the market?
I've been on so many showslately and the thing I can tell
you about the market is wespecialize over here in working
the foreclosure side of thebusiness.
We are always helpinghomeowners that are in distress
(02:19):
and the things that cause thedistress, they don't ever change
.
People go through foreclosurebecause of divorce, a job loss,
a sickness, a death, a transfer,like the main reasons that
people go in and out offoreclosure.
They don't change.
So whether the market is reallygood or the market is really
(02:40):
bad, if you go to the countycourthouse in your county and
you go online, you look at allthe foreclosures and you start
talking to people, you'llrecognize it's the same reasons.
It's always the same reasons.
Like I said, divorce, whatincome is leaving, sickness,
death whatever the reason,foreclosures are always the same
(03:03):
.
So the one thing I think youshould not worry about is oh my
gosh, what's going to happen.
We have a new president.
The world's gone wild.
But just so you guys know, I am100% pro-Trump, so I love what
Trump is doing.
I love that Elon Musk hasgotten rid of billions of
(03:24):
dollars in waste.
Like I, am all about that, andone of the reasons I like that
is because, as investors, we getso many tax write-offs and we
want business write-offs and taxwrite-off for business people
because we are business people,write-off for business people
(03:47):
because we are business people.
So if you don't like that aboutme, sorry, I have expressed my
political views in the past.
I'm not going to politicize mypodcast, but I love what's
happening.
I love the waste is getting ridof.
I love that we have someone incharge of the health of the
country.
I love that we're getting ridof bad foods and things that are
in our food that are poisoningand making us all sick, and all
(04:11):
of those things.
I am loving all of it.
So I'm just so excited to beback here with you today.
Oh, I have been.
Oh, I'm gonna cry.
So the last couple months, yeah, I promised myself that I
(04:36):
wouldn't cry.
I was ready to do this today.
Sorry, my dad passed away and Iwas really close to him and the
thing I appreciate most aboutreal estate is I was able to
spend his last six weeks withhim.
The whole time I was able to bewith him in the hospital and
(04:57):
then in hospice, I was able tohold his hand when he passed and
, sorry, when I start crying myvoice gets really high and
cracks bad.
I felt a little bit moreprepared to podcast.
I was like really going to tryand hold back my tears, but I
(05:18):
mean, it's my dad, I'm allowedto cry, you know.
But honestly, real estateinvesting, I just really can't
tell you how much I appreciatewhat it's done for me because I
was able to take off all thattime and I was able to be there
and plan the celebration of lifewhich, let me tell you
something, it was the most funparty we've ever had.
(05:42):
My dad loves bluegrass, he likesmoonshine, he likes hunting, he
likes poker.
So in his house we cleaned thehouse out and we had poker
tables.
We had bluegrass music going on, we had people playing guitars,
we were out back shooting attargets.
(06:04):
We had a big giant fire burninga few leftover things and I'm
telling you it was great.
He would have really been proudabout it.
So I was great.
It would have, like you know,really been proud about it.
So, yeah, I'm sorry.
So the thing is with theinvesting and with having
rentals and with having a VAteam for example, my VA team for
(06:27):
all of October, all of November, all of December, all of
January and all of February, allof November, all of December,
all of January and all ofFebruary.
For five months my VA team hasbeen able to keep up with
everything and keep emailscoming and keep videos coming
and keep podcasts coming, andthey've been able to keep things
coming and I was able to reallytake the time off and, just
(06:49):
like you know, just have aminute for myself, because I'm
telling you it was a lot.
And then in February, my verybest friend ever also passed
away.
So here's to my dad and MissCathi.
But that was very hard for me,just right after my, my dad, to
(07:16):
lose my best friend of 30 years.
And you know, I just foundmyself feeling really grateful
that I was able to take the timeI was able.
I mean, I'm obviously stillgrieving, but it's March and
I've been down here in my housethe whole month of March.
I could just have some time andjust process.
(07:37):
Like you know, that's tworeally giant losses in a really
short amount of time.
And so I got my new podcastbackground.
If you saw my video onInstagram, I put it all up, did
it myself, used all my powertools and I was able just to
have time to, to regroup andthink more about, like, what do
I want to do personally goingforward.
(08:01):
And, like you know, sometimes Ithink Bill and I just go
through like we're teaching,we're training, we're with the
grandkids, we're just likeplowing through, and I've had
time to think about, like, justfor me personally, what do I
want to do and where do I seemyself.
And you know having that timeup as a lot of time for some
really good self-reflection andyou know, what I really want to
(08:22):
do is I want to help you allbecome successful real estate
investors.
Having gone through what I justwent through, I really saw the
true beauty of what building areal estate empire or real
estate business it doesn't haveto be an empire building a
business can do for you as faras your freedom.
(08:44):
I didn't have to worry abouttaking bereavement days and some
of my other family did.
They only got you know, a dayoff, only got you know a day off
for the service, a day off forthe celebration.
Like people couldn't have timeoff work and I was just like I
had all the time in the world.
I will just take care of allkinds of stuff, but literally
(09:06):
every single person just abouthad to get time for everything
and I thought you know it'sreally grateful that I was able
to afford to stay in a hotel forsix entire weeks.
I could have stayed at my dad'shouse, but we were.
He was already had moved intothis beautiful assisted living
apartment and was getting readyto sell his house anyway.
(09:26):
It's like I could have stayedthere, but it's like you know
what.
I didn't want to stay there.
I wanted to help clean it anddo this and go through the boxes
and the memories but still havea place mentally at night to
get to, which was my hotel.
Stayed at a great hotel.
I mean you know they're asfancy as they can be for West
Mountain Ohio, but I stayed at agreat Holiday Inn with a pool
and a workout room.
(09:46):
Everybody at the front deskknew what was happening.
They were so sweet to me and,um, sorry guys, I almost want to
start over, but I'm not goingto.
Y'all can see my vulnerableside.
I'm a very soft part.
So it was really a blessing tobe able to stay for six weeks
(10:11):
and to be able to rent a car forsix weeks and, and you know,
eat out and do this and do thatand take care of my dad's estate
.
And you know it's funny,because my dad was so prepared.
My sister and I we settled infrom the minute we got together
at the attorney's office tillthe day we were done.
We settled the entire stay in26 hours and we went to sleep
(10:35):
that night 26 hours, went to thebank, took care of the stuff,
went to the funeral home, soldthe property was in a land trust
, everything Done, done, checkfor the house, money, just for
26 hours.
I feel like that's a totalrecord.
(10:55):
And we were able to do thatbecause my dad had everything in
a land trust and he had peoplesigned on his accounts on a POD,
pay on death, he had a will, hehad someone to buy the house
like we.
We had it all done and, boom,we were just like it was done
and it was really great becauseit was really satisfying.
(11:16):
A friend of my dad's bought thehouse, which was great.
One of his hunting buddies,which will, you know, bring his
kids over and they'll beshooting out in the back like my
dad used to.
It's a big fun, but I was justreally, you know, I think I'm
like eternally grateful for justall the hard work that I have
put in.
Oh sorry, Maybe I'll have a sipof wine Because, like when a
(11:48):
time came, it's like like withbill when he went through his
bone marrow transplant, webasically, I mean, I was
podcasting and stuff still withall of you, but we basically
didn't work for almost two yearsand you know, this was my dad,
this was, you know, a couple ofwell like well, the last five
months, I think said, and withCathi, and I just am really
(12:10):
proud of myself that I foundreal estate, I stuck to it, I
built a business, I didn't makea bunch of excuses, like a lot
of people make, about why theycan't be successful, and I
didn't do any of that.
And then now, and you know, atthe age, oh, and also also I
turned 66, so I don't even know,it's like, and I'm embracing
(12:33):
the gray.
This is the actual color thatmost of my hair is now, which
I'm super happy because it'sthat pretty white.
So I'm I'm turning uh, which II love.
I'm like super happy.
I have like the pretty gray andthen I'm highlighting in some
pink and I am also embracing thegray, so I love it.
(12:56):
So I was able to be with my dad, I was able to be there for my
friend, I was able to take careof everything I was able.
Like right now I'm here formyself, I'm showing up for
myself and taking care of myself, and real estate's done all
that.
So if you're like, oh, I don'tknow, I'm still thinking about
(13:18):
whatever, yeah, stop doing that.
I want you to go to my websiteit's Dwanderful
D-W-A-N-D-e-r-f-u-l.
Dwanderful made a new worddwanderfulcom and take the real
estate investing quiz.
Take the quiz, the I'm sorrynow my nose is runny.
(13:39):
I don't have any tissues rightnearby, so I said I might just
use my sleeve, like I did whenwe were kids.
But anyway, dwarnifulcom, takethe quiz.
I have a new quiz up there foryou and it'll just help you see
where you're at, what's yourrisk factor, what you need to be
doing, and this is 2025.
(14:01):
It's time to thrive in 25.
You know, I have a motto everyyear, and this year is it's time
to thrive in 25.
It's time to thrive in 25.
It's time to thrive in 25.
So, if you're still thinking,if you've watched me for a while
and you still haven't doneanything like seriously get off
(14:22):
your ass and get started and getworking and let's go.
I mean, we're already.
When you see this podcast, it'salready going to be April 1st.
Now I have been doing podcastswith people, but I didn't feel
like I was ready to kind of getback on and start with me
starting myself, and I don'twant to start a new season
(14:43):
without being the first guest ofmy own show.
Did not expect to cry throughthe whole show, but I guess I
don't know why I thought Iwouldn't.
You know, because you're all myfans and you're my friends and
I know you love me and yousupport me.
I'm such a mess.
I know you love me and that yousupport me and that you always
(15:04):
want the best for me and I wantthat for you too.
So together we're at a million.
Let's see if we can get to 2million in 25.
That would be amazing.
Would that be amazing.
By the end of the year we're at2 million.
Oh my gosh, that would be sogreat.
And let's get you going, let'sget you started, let's take
(15:26):
advantage of this great economyand this president that we have
and let's thrive.
It's time to thrive in 25.
So, thank you for letting mecry through my first show.
I feel like I'll be bettergoing forward so I won't be
talking about it.
And you know it's a lot and Iknow a lot of you've lost
(15:48):
parents.
I mean, I consider myself to bereally lucky to have been 65
years old and still have my momand my dad.
I mean my mom's 88, my aunt's98 a lot of longevity.
My dad was 86 and um, so I'mhappy for that.
But I'm also happy that whenthe time came, I was able to
(16:09):
fully be there and fully spendthat time and fully engage in
everything.
And you know, you get a chanceto say, like all the things you
ever wanted to say, and it wasreally beautiful.
I mean, honestly, it was reallybeautiful.
I'm just, I am so happy and I'mso at peace.
(16:32):
And my friend, she just went sopeaceful, Like been sick for a
long time, and she was sopeaceful and I'm so blessed I
was able to be a part of allthat.
So now I feel like I'm ready toget back in the groove.
We've still been doingworkshops and we've still been
(16:53):
traveling, but you know,podcasting is a little bit more
personal than talking to youguys.
Okay, seriously, I'm sharing myheart and I just feel a little
more vulnerable.
You know, in front of a group,I'm just like, oh yeah, I lost
my dad.
Little more vulnerable, youknow, in front of a group, I'm
just like, oh yeah, I lost mydad.
And you know, I just like suckin those emotions.
But I feel like I don't have todo that with you because y'all
(17:17):
love me and I love y'all too.
Okay, so we are going to wrap upthis teary mess.
I just want to let you know I'mback, I'm back, I'm back, I'm
back, I'm back, and I've got somany great guests I've
interviewed in the last coupleof months, preparing for
whenever I was ready to start.
And so this is it.
(17:38):
It's time to thrive into 1D5.
And we'll be back next week.
Same bat time, same bat channel.
And remember that the truth isin the red letters.
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