Looking back as an adult, my mother did not buy the house. She inherited the house from her grandmother who passed away. My mother refinanced into an adjustable-rate mortgage that she did not quite understand. After several years the interest rate only adjusted up. My mother no longer was able to make the mortgage payment. The choice became housing payment or food on the table. She chose to put food on the table.

Investor after investor would knock on our front door. Making low offers to buy the house. My mother had no interest in selling the house. The house had been in our family for over 50 years. I would wake up in the middle of the night to find my mother crying. After turning 18 years old, I felt like I needed to do something. Watching my mother's physical and mental health suffer was tough. It was now creating stress in my life. Before the sale date arrived, my mother ended up selling the house to an investor for some low amount. She felt a sigh of relief. There was shame and embarrassment. She had to admit to family members that she had lost our house. It was 1998. The fire was lit, I knew I had found my passion.

That year I went off to college. After 3 years, I decided that none of the available majors were for me. From that day, I decided to leave school and never return. I read Robert Kiyosaki's book “Rich Dad Poor Dad'' and I committed to a life as a real estate investor. I ended up getting my real estate license in 2005. One of the books in the Rich Dad Poor Dad series suggested that I get a license. It would make sense to know about deals first as a licensed agent. Then use the commission as a down payment on investment properties.

Somehow the first real estate niche that I gravitated to was foreclosures. I had this passion inside to help people in foreclosure find out what their options were. First, we would try to save the property and they continue to live in their house if possible. Or if they had to sell, I’d help families get the most that their house could sell for. Considering a foreclosure sale date was near. This is a much better situation than giving the house away to some investor for pennies. Without trying, this made my mom proud.

I have helped over 100 families in this situation over the years. This was my life's work as long as I felt that fire burning inside. Now my focus has changed a bit. I try my best to share my knowledge with clients, family, and friends. This way no one has to go through anything like what I went through in my younger years.

Now my passion is helping families that need to upsize their house for whatever reason. From needing more bedrooms because the kids are growing and need more space in the house. Helping families is personal for me - where you live sets the tone for your entire relationship. A house that has features that are not right, puts a lot of stress on a family. Bad memories are still memories, and you and your children deserve to be in a space that fosters the good ones.