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LINDA PLIAGAS t’s the first quarter of 2016 and It’s wonderful to have knowledgeable I’m so motivated to skyrocket people around you to guide your my life, business and portfolio. direction. And, that is what we want I know you must be as well, since you REI Wealth Monthly, and all of our are reading this publication and as a issues and websites, to also do for frequent follower of our online network. you. As a publisher in the REI space, I’ve Since 2007, when our first magazine had the pleasure of socializing with began as a 12-page publication, our amazing executives from leading mission has been to provide our industry companies in several cities readers with the resources they need across the country, and I can say that to be successful. It’s been a great there are truly some great resources journey, as I have seen our network for investors out there; resources we continually expand and move forward. want to make available through this In the process, our readers and publication. industry clients have inspired me to also push myself. But lately, thanks to the gentle nudges Recently, I spoke with a vice president of those around me and the guidance from a leading finance firm at length at In the past, with my professional and and support of my family, I have began an industry event. We had the pleasure business life, I have tended to be very to leave my comfort zone. Lately, I’ve of being next to one another and he conservative and not take a whole lot been taking on added risks and making practically gave me a personal financial of risk; I just have always taken baby greater investments in my business analysis during our down time. steps to ensure my safety as an and in my life in general. investor and entrepreneur. It has After asking me a few questions about worked well for me and my family for Recently I made a substantial my portfolio and goals, he determined it the past twenty years since I began to investment purchasing a new domain, was time to take full advantage of my take real estate classes and actively expanded our expos to new cities, hard-earned equity to continue to manage rental property. (It was approved capital improvements on expand. It was a gentle nudge to get exactly around this same time that I some properties, and also helped my going and not become complacent, also became a national magazine husband expand his business with new which I so appreciated. publisher.) inventory. Now I’m on the prowl for another acquisition to add to our rental portfolio. I’m thankful that this vibrant industry keeps me on my toes and always pushes me to expand and grow... as a person, as a publisher and as an investor. Enjoy reading the new issue of REI Wealth Monthly. Please contact me at my personal email if I can help you in any way: [email protected] “Success is not measured by money, but how much better you leave the world.” – Andrew Cordle TO READ THE ENTIRE ISSUE, BACK ISSUES & GET THE FUTURE ISSUES ALL FREE!!! SUBSCRIBE NOW FROM MISERABLE LAWYER TO FULL-TIME REAL ESTATE INVESTOR JONATHAN TWOMBLY oing from lawyer to full-time real estate entrepreneur was tough. Here’s how I did it. Trading My Life for Money I practiced law for 12 years. I worked 14-hour days, ate every meal at my desk, and worked most weekends. Sometimes I went a month without a day off. I ate terribly, got fat, and felt miserable. I hardly dated or saw friends. FROM MISERABLE LAWYER TO FULL-TIME REAL ESTATE INVESTOR JONATHAN TWOMBLY My life consisted of eating, working, and sleeping (very little). The money was good. But my “Sunday night blues” started on Friday night. I wasn’t just trading time for money, I was trading away my life. Why was I working so hard? So my faceless billion- dollar corporate could fight over millions of dollars with another faceless billion-dollar corporation. And, right before trial, they’d always exchange some money and settle. The client would go right back to In 2008, the Great Recession hit. I was grateful to doing business with the enemy. I’d have just wasted have a job. But the work dried up, and as it did, my three years of my life. stress level rose. I surfed the Internet all day, dreading a knock on the door that meant someone And, for what? To make partner? Yeah, right. Law was firing me or bringing me work. I could not firm partners don’t like to dilute their profits. And even decide which was worse. if you make partner, then what? You work just as hard as the associates, except now you have to bring Breaking In Nearly Broke Me in business too. The pressure never stops. You have to feed the machine clients or it stops dead. In early 2011, my firm got tired of paying me to surf the Internet and let me go. I was more relieved I tried to escape several times. I walked off the job than upset. But the idea of interviewing for another with no plan. I just needed out. But, with no plan, I law job made my stomach turn. I had to make a would drift back into law. I even went back to school change. I’d always been interested in real estate. A for two years. Then I met my wife and returned to law friend and I had looked at properties together but for the money. But law firm life nearly destroyed my had not made any offers. I started looking into real marriage. estate as a career. But, because of the recession, I was competing with guys out on the street with years of experience. I stood no chance. One day, a very experienced real estate hand sat me down over coffee. “Look,” he said. “I’ll tell it to you straight. At your age [42], and with your background, no one in this city is going to hire you. The only way you’re going to break into this field is if someone just takes a liking to you and offers to make you their partner.” FROM MISERABLE LAWYER TO FULL-TIME REAL ESTATE INVESTOR JONATHAN TWOMBLY Unbelievably, a few It was not easy. It took us more than a year to find our first deal. Then we weeks later, that found another from the same seller. But after we had spent money on due happened. I had been diligence costs, travel, legal fees, lender fees, etc., the lender backed out of networking with everyone one deal and we terminated the other. We lost months of work and tens of I could in real estate. I thousands of dollars each. And I was supporting my family out of savings at met a woman who the time. owned property with her husband and wanted We decided to break up the partnership. We’d had some disagreements over make real estate a strategy and decided at this point it was best to go our separate ways. business. She asked me to join her. “This isn’t rocket science. You’re smart. You can learn it,” she told me. “And, you have integrity. I can trust you. That’s most important.” She also thought I could raise money. She must have had some kind of second- sight. I was not sure whether to accept her offer, so I asked some close friends for advice. Two of them told me After Three Tough Years, Success at Last that, if I accepted the offer, they would invest Now what? I wondered. money with us. And the amounts they mentioned A few weeks later, I was having dinner with one of my investors. I said I might were substantial. have to go back into law. He said not to be hasty and then suggested that we form our own venture. In early 2013, we founded Two Bridges Asset So, having a partnership Management LLC. It took a year to get any traction. But by 2015, we had four offer and two investors properties in our portfolio, comprising 404 apartments, worth nearly $20 in hand, I decided to go million. Now we’re planning to raise our first investment fund. for it. FROM MISERABLE LAWYER TO FULL-TIME REAL ESTATE INVESTOR JONATHAN TWOMBLY What enabled me to leap from miserable lawyer to full-time real estate entrepreneur? • I exercised a high degree of professionalism, which I learned as a lawyer • I established a reputation for intelligence, integrity and trustworthiness • I networked actively with people in the industry and followed their advice • I absorbed the losses personally when our deals went bad, rather than look to our investors, demonstrating integrity and commitment to the business • I kept moving forward in the face of setbacks • I said yes to opportunity when it came my way If you are committed to a career in real estate, and you develop these traits, too, you can free yourself from the corporate grind. I did it. So can you. Jonathan D. Twombly Mr. Twombly is President and Managing Member of Two Bridges Asset Management LLC. Before founding Two Bridges, he was a partner in the real estate investment firm TRB Investment Group LLC. He began his career as a lawyer and spent over a decade practicing in American Lawyer Top 100 firms, where he focused on real estate and hospitality matters.

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