 On Tuesday, April 17, 2007, we held THE LAST MEETING of the North Georgia Real Estate Investors Association (North Georgia REIA). After more than five wonderful years, Kim and I have decided to turn out the lights on our REIA.
We want to thank you, as well as the thousands of other real estate investors, who have helped and supported us over the years. You have no idea what you have meant to Kim and me.
Why did we close down North Georgia REIA?
Have you ever listened to someone who is so inspiring that they speak directly to your heart and cause you to change the direction of your life? Pete Fortunato was our special guest speaker at April’s REIA meeting, and this is exactly what he did for Kim and me.
Pete said that time was the most valuable asset people possess. He also talked about the joy he and his kids shared each summer. When school was out, they would climb into their camper and spend the entire summer seeing the country and building life memories.
Because Pete owned a number of paid-for rental properties, he had the freedom to spend the summer with his kids – he was not a “wage slave.”
This really hit home. Until two years ago, Kim and I spent July through September in our camper in Montana. These days, because our REIA has become a “business” that requires daily, hands-on work, we can no longer be away from home for more than a few days at a time – if that!
As Pete spoke, I suddenly remembered Curt Baker, a good friend who is in our short sale mastermind group, asking me, “Bill, are you a Human Being or are you a Human Doing?” It was like being hit by a ton of bricks. Even though Kim and I have worked diligently buying and trying to pay off our rental properties in order to be financially independent, my ego had caused us to become Human Doings.
Tuesday night, on the way home from April’s meeting, I asked Chuck Meek, a friend and fellow investor from Alabama who was staying with us that night, “If I were seventy years old and looked back at this period of my life, would I wish I had spent my time conducting monthly REIA meetings, or would I wish I had spent my time with my wife in our camper in Montana, building life memories?” Folks, spending time with Kim, the love of my life, was the hands-down winner!
Kim and I talked until the wee hours of Wednesday morning. After looking at the situation from all sides, I knew it was time to pull the plug and get our lives back.
Why did we end our REIA without notice or fanfare?
For two reasons:
First, going into April’s meeting, I had no idea that it would be our last meeting. Listening to Pete Fortunato and remembering what Curt Baker had once asked me, made me suddenly realize that I needed to get my life’s priorities in order.
Second, Wednesday morning, as Kim and I discussed the best time to end our REIA, we knew that if we announced that May would be the last meeting, May’s meeting would end up being about us.
Folks, North Georgia REIA was never about us. From our very first meeting at the Shoney’s in Cartersville, Georgia, in January 2002, our meetings have always been about bringing real estate investors together in order to discuss the latest investing and asset protection techniques.
One other thing: many of the people at April’s meeting told us that it was the best meeting we had ever done. Our skit was funny and poignant. Pete Fortunato was incredible. The atmosphere was phenomenal. Bottom line – we wanted to go out on top, after giving the best meeting we had in us. Goal achieved!
Did we sell North Georgia REIA?
We DID NOT sell North Georgia REIA. And as promised, we did not sell or give away anyone’s contact information.
Because most folks know our group as “Bill and Kim’s real estate investors group,” and not as North Georgia REIA, we thought it best not to sell the group. Kim and I have worked very hard to build something special. Simply put, the group is a part of our soul – and there is no way in heaven we could ever sell a piece of our soul.
What will happen to our website: www.REIoutpost.com?
Our REIA website will stay active for about three months. Then we will move most of the information to our NEW website.
Our new website will be FREE and packed with CONSERVATIVE, REAL-WORLD INFORMATION! On the website, you will find our weekly columns that are published in a number of Georgia newspapers, as well as our past REIA newsletters, the recordings from our last eight North Georgia REIA meetings – INCLUDING THE ONE WITH PETE FORTUNATO – a list of the professionals and contractors who we work with, and much more.
When it’s completed, you’ll find our new website at either BillandKimCook.com or FatOldBaldGuy.com. (Yep, you read that right…and to think, no one had yet snatched up FatOldBaldGuy.com. Was I lucky or what?!) Also, www.REIoutpost.com will connect you to our new website.
Oh, and please also visit our new buy/sell website at www.BartowRealEstate.com.
What will happen to The Equity, our monthly newsletter?
This will be the LAST edition of The Equity. However, you will still be able to read our weekly newspaper columns on our new website at www.BillandKimCook.com.
We recommend that you sign up to receive John Adams’ monthly newsletter at www.Money99.com. Recently, John told us that he was going to have to start charging for it. Good news though: he agreed to give our members a FREE one-year subscription IF you will let him know that you are with North Georgia REIA!
In addition, be sure to sign up for Dyches Boddiford’s free email newsletter at www.Assets101.com. Dyches is one of the best advanced real estate investing teachers in the country.
What if you are a Yearly Member of North Georgia REIA?
If you are a yearly member, you will be receiving a check for the balance of the membership fee you paid. If you don’t receive your check within the next ten days, please contact Terrah at Terrah@REIoutpost.com.
Will Kim and I continue to invest in real estate?
You bet your sweet bippy we will! Terrah Whitlock, Kim and I have our office in Adairsville, Georgia. Our real estate investing company, North Georgia Homes, Inc., is doing fantastic. We will focus our time on becoming masters at creatively structuring real estate investing deals in order to help more people solve their real estate problems.
Will Kim and I still teach our real estate investing courses?
Yes, we will. Kim will be teaching her Short Sale course on Saturday, July 21, 2007, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Cartersville Holiday Inn, as planned. Later, after some time away in our camper, I will again be teaching my courses as well.
Will we continue to write our weekly column that runs in Georgia newspapers?
Yes, we will. We’ve been writing our weekly column for more than four years. It is one of the things we enjoy doing most.
If your local paper doesn’t carry our weekly real estate investing column, you may want to call or email the editor of your paper and ask him/her to contact us.
What happens now?
Easy answer: you need to continue attending real estate investor meetings. I know Kim and I will. These meetings are the best places to learn about real estate investing and the best places to meet other like-minded real estate investors!
When Kim and I founded North Georgia REIA in January 2002, we were the only REIA within 50 miles. During the past five years, we have helped start and have supported the other five REIAs that have formed in the North Georgia area.
For contact information and meeting dates of ALL the REIAs in the Atlanta area, go to our website at www.REIoutpost.com, and on the left-hand side of the page, click on “Events Calendar.”
NOTE: Gail Walker’s Acworth Mastermind Subgroup has become We Buy Georgia REIA. She has also changed her group’s meeting date to 7 p.m. on the 3rd Tuesday of each month. They will be meeting in Cartersville, Georgia. To find out more, go to Gail@WeBuyGa.net.
Now it’s our turn to say, “Thank you!”
North Georgia REIA was successful for many reasons, but for one reason above all others.
The other day, I was speaking to the leader of another REIA. He asked how, in only five years, North Georgia REIA was able to grow into the second largest REIA in the state. I said, “The answer is easy, but you won’t understand it.” He said, “Try me. I’m a pretty bright guy.” I looked at him for a minute, smiled, and then said, “We hug.”
The perplexed look on his face was priceless. He said, “I don’t understand.” Grinning, I said, “Yea, I knew you wouldn’t.”
For over five years, on the third Tuesday of each month, friends came together with a common goal: to learn how to become financially independent by investing in real estate. At our meetings, many hugs were exchanged and many life-long friendships were formed. Simply put, the reason North Georgia REIA was so successful was because of friends and hugs!
We want to thank the folks who helped at our monthly meetings: Kim Sandell, Cheryl Leigh, Courtney Marcussen, Terrah Whitlock, Gail Walker, Gina Willis and Carol Bruner. We could never have done our meetings without y’all. (Translation for Gail Walker: We’s guys couldn’t have done it without yous guys.)
We want to thank the investors who regularly wrote a column for The Equity, our monthly real estate investing newsletter. We know the dedication it takes to write a column on a regular basis. We appreciate the wonderful real-world information Blake Watson, Houston Long, Jeff Ward, Gary Lewis, Lori Schultz, Gail Walker, Donna Robinson, Dyches Boddiford, John Adams and the many other investors who sent in columns, shared with us.
We want to thank Kim Sandell, Mary Ann Doering, Terrah Whitlock, and my mother Dot, for all of the hours they spent putting together and proofing The Equity. Their work was tireless. Their results, incredible!
We want to thank the folks who sponsored our meetings and who advertised in The Equity. Your support played a HUGE role in our success.
Thanks to all the experienced investors who graciously gave their time to be part of one of our Panel of Experts. Your knowledge helped us all to be better, wiser real estate investors.
Time for some very special thank-yous:
Pete Fortunato is one of the wisest real estate investors in the country. Several times he, without knowing it, has changed the direction of my life. Pete, thank you for always speaking your mind and always being willing to tell it like it is. Many of us will be attending Pete’s seminar in Tampa this June. For more information about it, go to www.PeterFortunato.com. (NOTE: If you are angry about our REIA closing down, BLAME PETE! ;)
Few know the amount of work that goes into running a large REIA like Terrah Whitlock does. Before and after each meeting and seminar, Terrah spent hours making sure the books were accurate, everyone’s information was correct, newsletters were mailed, and a hundred other chores were handled. If Terrah were a diamond, she would be flawless! Few can equal her abilities. She is truly a millionaire in the making. Terrah, we thank you and we love you!
Kim Sandell, who recently moved to Denver, Colorado with her husband, Steve, began helping us in the early days, when the front row was the back row. No matter how hard her day had been, Kim came to each meeting with a smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye. Kim, we thank you and we love you!
Gawain Thomas, one of my best friends in the world, was at our very first meeting, our very last meeting, and most of the meetings in between. Gawain worked behind the scenes doing much of the dirty, thankless work, like cleaning up after the meetings and throwing HUGE tape balls at my head – most of the time, accurately! OUCH!!! What can I say? I love you, man…errr…but not like that! How about them Bears!
I need to thank my dad, Bill, for all of the support he has given me. He taught me how to be a man early in life, and taught me the importance of doing what I say I’m going to do. He gave me my love of flying and golf. He also taught me to keep my *#$#*#% head on a swivel – but that’s a story for another time.
Folks are always asking what makes me work so hard. I get it honest. My mother, Dot, sold Electrolux vacuums door-to-door for 25 years! Every day, after knocking on people’s doors all day long, she would come home to “The House of Chaos.” She’d make dinner, wash the dishes, clean the house, iron the clothes, help us with our homework, etc. Finally, late at night, after we had been tucked in, she would fall into bed totally exhausted. The next morning, we would be greeted by her smiling face. There she was, ready to take on another day. My mother taught me the importance of having the determination of a dung beetle. Mother, my debt to you can never be repaid.
To Kim, the absolute love of my life: No man has ever had a finer, more wonderful bride! Despite all of my crazy ideas (of which there have been many), and no matter the number of hours my ego has caused us to work, you, my Redhead, have stuck by my side step-for-step. Honey, please know that I cherish each day we spend together! Now, how about we get in the camper and go somewhere?
TO ALL: You made North Georgia REIA one of the best experiences of our lives. You will always be in our hearts and in our thoughts.
We wish you good health, much wealth and tremendous happiness.
With much love,
Bill and Kim Cook
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