When Alex Bradley graduated from college, he never imagined he’d become a successful real estate investor. As a new dad trying to support a family of four on a single income, Alex was barely scraping by in San Diego. He knew he needed to find a way to earn more money, so he started exploring potential side hustles. That’s when Alex discovered the concept of wholesaling real estate.
Although Alex was skeptical that wholesaling real estate could really work, he decided to give it a try. Just three weeks after his second child was born, Alex and his wife got a list of pre-foreclosure properties and started knocking on doors all over San Diego. Their persistence paid off quickly. Within just a few weeks of cold calling and door knocking, Alex landed his first deal.
Closing His First Deal While Figuring It Out Along the Way
Alex’s first deal came from a distressed seller with a rental property in San Antonio, TX. Although Alex knew very little about the mechanics of wholesaling at that point, he was able to get the property under contract by following the basic formulas he had learned.
“Literally every single step of the way, I just would call the title company every single day. Like, what's next? What do we need to do?"
Completing the transaction required figuring things out as he went. With $7,000 profit on the line, Alex called title companies until he found one willing to help him assign the contract. He leveraged buyers to estimate rehab costs and scrambled to close the deal when he determined the property was headed to auction.
Despite the seller ghosting him and needing to track him down to get signatures at the last minute, Alex persevered and successfully closed his first deal. This experience gave him the confidence to know that wholesaling could work, even if he had to learn as he went along.
Struggling to Gain Traction and Returning to a Job
Although Alex’s first deal came together quickly, gaining momentum in wholesaling proved difficult. For the first couple of years, Alex juggled his full-time corporate job with side hustles in wholesaling and waiting tables.
In November 2020, Alex finally took the leap to wholesale full-time after landing some deals from Facebook ads. However, throughout 2021, Alex struggled to gain traction.
“I absolutely fell on my face. And the main reason was I realized I hate acquisitions. The direct to seller part of the business is just not my thing.”
Without sufficient deals coming in, Alex burned through his savings and had to return to work as a server in a restaurant to make ends meet. At this point, he decided to pivot to working in real estate full-time on the retail side, alongside his wife who had recently gotten her license.
Just as Alex was mapping out this next stage of his career, a conversation with a fellow wholesaler presented a new opportunity to him.
Discovering His Niche: Dispositions
In December 2021, Alex joined forces with another wholesaling company to focus solely on dispositions. He immediately found this business-to-business approach much more enjoyable and profitable than working directly with sellers.
“It’s not even really the Dispo that I like more. It’s the B to B relationship with the people that I’m working with.”
By January 2022, Alex was already able to quit his job at the restaurant to do dispositions full-time. He especially likes leveraging his network to have other wholesalers and agents bring him deals to sell, rather than having to handle acquisitions himself.
Focusing solely on dispositions has allowed Alex to scale up his business quickly with very little overhead. He now has a steady stream of deals coming in from his network and closes transactions seamlessly through the systems he has put in place.
Achieving Financial Freedom and Flexibility
After years of struggling financially while juggling multiple jobs and side hustles, Alex now has the freedom and flexibility he was seeking all along through real estate investing.
“It’s amazing. It’s a privilege to not have to do those things as a parent and just as an entrepreneur. So I'm definitely blessed to be able to have the freedom that we have now.”
Alex is able to make his own schedule and attend his kids’ school events without having to ask permission from a boss. He can take off early to spend time with his family at the beach whenever he wants to. This freedom and flexibility allow Alex to focus on what matters most – his family.
Alex Bradley’s story demonstrates that with persistence and creativity, real estate investing can provide a pathway to financial freedom, even when starting with very little. By experimenting to find which business model worked best for him personally, Alex was able to build a profitable company on his own terms.
What lessons can we learn from Alex’s journey?
- Stay persistent. Even when his first year of full-time wholesaling flopped, Alex kept exploring until he found an approach that worked for him.
- Play to your strengths. Alex realized acquisitions weren’t for him. By focusing on dispositions instead, he is doing what he enjoys and does best.
- Leverage systems and tools. The right systems can transform your business.
- Value freedom and flexibility. Alex persisted in real estate wholesaling because he valued the freedom of being an entrepreneur over climbing the corporate ladder. Understanding your “why” helps during difficult times.
If you’re feeling stuck in your nine-to-five life and want more freedom to pursue your dreams, take inspiration from Alex’s story. With the right mindset and systems, you too can achieve financial independence through real estate investing.
