Bullet Proof Diva

I was thinking about my friend winedog at Pink Bunny Ears. Actually I’ve been thinking about what she said to me when I was over last, “So what’s your voice?” What’s my voice? I don’t know. Wadda mean my voice?” I ponder this for quite a while. I feel like half the time I’m under cover laying low so to put my shit out there in any manner is somewhat daunting. But at 43 I guess I want to be heard. My opinion counts. My wrinkles are proof.  I don’t have a voice I can put my name on but my words paint a face.

I blog about my life, what affects me, what makes me crazy, what’s happening right now on the real estate road to success and what kinds of crazy asinine shit affects my view of the world. Out of 17 Billion people in the world AND having lived half my life…my thoughts are blazing.

Who Am I?

I’m that little black/white/Jewish girl who was born in Holland but grew up on the streets and in the suburbs of Philadelphia. I used to sit out on the stoop in front of my grandma’s house on Lexington Street the only pale face in a sea of dark skinned faces. We moved to a GI home in Levittown, PA and I ran around the “hood”…which was NOT the “hood” of today. Thinking back I remember big wide streets and sunny days. During summer we ate breakfast and headed out the house to meet Ricky or Dawn our neighborhood friends down at the creek. I never wore my sandals; I was forever scrapping my big right toe and always had 2 or 3 band aids in place. I was on the swim team at the local community pool and I had my first kiss with Dawn Schneller and then Michael Napoli.  Funny the things that you remember.

I was tracked in school. We had the “one-drop rule” you know back then. Probably on the tail end of that practice but nevertheless I was tracked. Clawed my way out via lots of summer school and was allowed in the “regular” classes from thereon out. In my junior year of high school all of us students had to have meetings with the guidance counselors to go over SAT prep and reviewing college applications. I sat in front of Mr. Nimrod and was asked “So, what technical school do you want to apply to Lydia?” Technical school? “What? Technical school? I don’t want to go to technical school I want to go to Princeton or Cal.” Nimrod then says, “Well Lydia, you’re just not the caliber of student to go to Princeton or Cal so let’s just talk about your more realistic options out there” I couldn’t believe this schmuck was sitting there telling me this shit. I’m not the caliber of student to get into Princeton or Cal?!?!

That I guess was the beginning of me and who I became. I don’t like to take no for an answer and if you say I cant I will. That’s who I am by nature. A girl of hard knocks but driven and willing to make opportunity. I fell in love with real estate AFTER I graduated from Cal and went onto law school. I was working in high tech PR when the dot bomb hit and I got evicted from my first house. I was a single mother without a pot to piss in, no money, lousy credit and not much to go on other than the will to succeed and get my own home. I was one of my first deals and made a deal with the devil to simply get it. I fell in love with the East Bay its nooks and cranny and bought a 1920s Mexican Adobe looking 2 bedroom home. It was small but it was mine. I ate Top Ramen for the first year and a half but my son had a roof over his head and he was able to stay in private school! And then I refied and moved on.

I remember some days were so incredibly tough. I didn’t know if or how I was going to make it financially. I mean how many times could I crack open the glass pot to count change and somehow get through? I still own that home though. She’s my safe haven, my magical coven, my first home.

On the day that I signed loan documents there I was that little black/white/Jewish girl all alone. I felt so small and unsure and proud and scared all at the same time.  OHMYGAWD! I was buying my first home! OHMYGAWD! I was buying my first home!  The title rep walked in during my burst of joy and handed me the papers and said “Here ya go. Let me know when you’re done” and walked out and then I almost hyperventilated. The only thing I remember was that it was just me sitting there all alone, it was really quiet and I was seeing the final number after a 30 year amortization. It was something crazy like $1.2M! OHMYGAWD! $1.2M?!?! I closed my eyes and signed. A month or so later I broke ground with my contractors and put in an adorable 1 bedroom in-law unit that gives me cash flow day in and day out.

This was my first foray into real estate but a light bulb went off the pieces came together and I knew that I was on the path to building wealth through real estate and that’s how my passion started and that’s why I decided to finally blog.

Bullet Proof Diva

This is what I call myself when times get rough and when I don’t think I can jump another fucking hurdle. Real Estate isn’t for everyone. There are a lot of risks involved. You’ve got to take the time and be dedicated to success. And sometimes to tell you the truth you might be better suited to stay a renter. I’ve made a million mistakes, made lots of money, lost lots of money and am now on the path to starting over again.

I don’t have all the answers so I look to the women who do and hope along the way that they share their story.  I’m interested in what women are doing and how they’re building their wealth and what advice they have to give us in our quest to build wealth even in the ugliest market. I’m interested in how women come from nothing, $.70 on the dollar, single, mothers, married, partnered, building business and being successful. I’m also interested in women that married or inherited their money and what they think about wealth through real estate and what are telling their daughters. Those are the women I’m interested in. So if its you that I’m speaking to I’d like to interview you for my site Women Building Wealth through Real Estate.  What better way to learn than by example?  

In this blog you’ll also get a good chunk of my day-to-day dealings in the real estate world, my escapades, what’s going on in the market, WTF? moments, what’s happening in the San Francisco/East Bay and I’ll even give you snippets of the women I’ve interviewed or women I’d like to connect with so they can share their story. 

I hope you enjoy.

Thanks for stopping by.

L