17 Deals in 12 Months: How This Beginner Did It

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22 Mar 2025

Success in real estate investing is often seen as a slow and steady climb, with many investors taking years to build momentum. However, some individuals defy expectations and achieve remarkable results in a short period. One such example is a beginner investor who closed 17 deals within 12 months—a feat that many seasoned professionals would admire.

How did they do it? What strategies and mindset shifts played a role in this rapid success? In this detailed article, we’ll break down their journey, step by step, exploring the exact methods, challenges, and key takeaways that helped this newcomer achieve what seemed impossible. Whether you’re a budding investor or an experienced one looking for inspiration, these insights can provide a roadmap to accelerating your own success.

The Beginning: Understanding the Why

Every successful investor starts with a strong reason behind their efforts. For this beginner, the motivation stemmed from a combination of financial freedom, dissatisfaction with a traditional 9-to-5 job, and a deep desire to build long-term wealth.

Like many newcomers, they started by consuming as much knowledge as possible, reading books, listening to podcasts, and attending local real estate meetups. While information overload is a common challenge, they quickly realized that taking action was more important than waiting for the perfect moment.

The first step was setting clear goals: closing at least one deal within the first 60 days and using that momentum to scale up to multiple deals per month. They understood that real estate investing isn’t just about acquiring properties but about solving problems, creating value, and consistently taking calculated risks.

Strategy Selection: Choosing the Right Investment Model

There are numerous real estate investing strategies, from wholesaling and fix-and-flips to buy-and-hold rentals and creative financing. Given their limited capital and lack of experience, this beginner opted for a combination of wholesaling and creative financing, both of which required minimal upfront investment while offering the potential for quick profits.

Wholesaling: This strategy involves finding distressed properties, negotiating a low purchase price, and assigning the contract to another buyer for a fee. This approach allowed them to generate cash flow without needing large amounts of capital or taking on significant risks.
Creative Financing (Seller Financing & Subject-To Deals): They also leveraged creative financing strategies, where sellers agreed to finance the purchase rather than requiring a traditional mortgage. This method helped them acquire properties with little or no money down, making it easier to scale quickly.

By focusing on these strategies, they were able to maximize deal flow without the barriers of traditional lending or needing large amounts of personal capital.

Generating Leads: Finding Motivated Sellers

A major key to success in real estate investing is finding deals—and that means generating leads. This investor understood early on that marketing is everything and committed to consistent lead-generation efforts.

Methods Used to Find Deals:

Driving for Dollars – They spent hours driving around neighborhoods, identifying distressed properties with overgrown yards, peeling paint, and boarded-up windows. These properties often indicated motivated sellers who were willing to negotiate.
Cold Calling & Direct Mail – Instead of waiting for deals to come to them, they built a targeted list of absentee owners, pre-foreclosures, and vacant properties. They then contacted these owners directly, offering solutions to their property problems.
Networking & Referrals – By attending local real estate investment meetups and connecting with other investors, wholesalers, and real estate agents, they gained access to off-market deals that others had passed on.
Online Marketing – They leveraged platforms like Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, and real estate investment forums to find motivated sellers and distressed property owners.
Bandit Signs – Simple “We Buy Houses” signs placed in strategic locations led to multiple calls from sellers looking to offload their properties quickly.

By using a mix of these lead-generation strategies, they were able to keep a consistent pipeline of potential deals, which allowed them to move swiftly from one transaction to the next.

Negotiating and Closing Deals: Mastering the Art of Persuasion

Finding motivated sellers is only half the battle—closing the deal requires strong negotiation skills. Our beginner investor quickly learned that understanding a seller’s motivation was the key to crafting win-win solutions.
Instead of focusing purely on price, they asked open-ended questions like:

“What’s your biggest challenge with this property?”
“If I could help solve this issue, would you be open to an offer?”
“What would be an ideal outcome for you?”

By shifting the conversation from price to problem-solving, they positioned themselves as a trusted resource rather than just another investor looking to make a profit. This approach led to better negotiations, stronger relationships, and ultimately, more deals closed.

Once they secured agreements, they moved quickly to assign contracts (in the case of wholesaling) or structure creative financing terms that allowed them to acquire the property with little out-of-pocket expense.

Scaling Up: Building Systems and a Team

Closing a few deals is great, but scaling to 17 deals in 12 months requires efficient systems and support. As they began to gain momentum, they implemented key strategies to handle the growing workload:

Hiring Virtual Assistants (VAs) – To manage lead generation, follow-ups, and administrative tasks, they brought on VAs to free up their time for negotiations and deal-closing.
Automating Follow-Ups – Using CRM software, they set up automated text and email follow-ups to stay in touch with leads that weren’t ready to sell immediately.
Partnering with Other Investors – By teaming up with experienced investors, they were able to leverage their knowledge, capital, and buyer networks to close more deals faster.
Outsourcing Marketing – Instead of handling all marketing efforts themselves, they hired professionals for direct mail campaigns, paid ads, and social media outreach.
Building a Buyers List – By networking with other investors, they created a strong list of cash buyers who could quickly purchase deals, ensuring fast assignment of contracts.

Overcoming Challenges and Staying Motivated

Like any ambitious venture, this journey was not without challenges. The investor faced numerous hurdles, including:

Deals falling through at the last minute – Some sellers backed out, and some buyers failed to perform. Staying resilient and having backup plans was essential.
Analysis Paralysis – In the beginning, overanalyzing deals slowed them down, but they learned to trust their numbers and take action.
Rejection and No’s – Many sellers said “no,” but persistence and follow-ups often turned those into “yes” months later.

They stayed motivated by focusing on long-term goals, celebrating small wins, and constantly improving their skills through mentorship and education.

Conclusion: Key Takeaways for Aspiring Investors

Closing 17 deals in a year is an incredible achievement, but it’s not reserved for the elite—it’s possible for any dedicated investor willing to put in the work. The key lessons from this journey include:

Take Massive Action – Consistent, focused effort leads to big results.
Focus on Lead Generation – More leads mean more opportunities for deals.
Master Negotiation – Solving problems creates more opportunities than simply offering money.
Build Systems Early – Automation and delegation help scale quickly.
Stay Persistent – Rejections are part of the process; keep pushing forward.

For those looking to replicate this success, the path is clear: get educated, take action, stay consistent, and never stop improving. Real estate investing rewards those who are willing to put in the effort, and with the right mindset and strategy, achieving 17 deals in 12 months—or more—is entirely possible!