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[–] JeepGuy79 [S] 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

Academics were never my strong suit. I always struggled in school and when the time for college rolled around...I made it one semester before I realized that the "traditional" path was not for me. That's when I looked into a skilled trade. I took on a two year apprenticeship with a local real estate appraiser to learn the in's and out's of appraising. For many years I was super successful, was able to work from home, I dictated my own schedule, everything was perfect. Then 2008 happened and the bottom fell out of the local real estate market here in Arizona. 2009 was horrible but I managed to survive while my wife was building her business. From 2010-2015 things got gradually worse for me. Lenders started demanding faster turn around times for lower fees, all my work was being reviewed by countless underwriters, loan officers, homeowners, etc. Then regulations started changing and banks started requiring that you had to be "certified" to complete appraisals and that cut me off from doing appraisals for FHA loans, which I had been doing for years anyways. Then came Appraisal Management Companies(AMC). The invention of AMC's cut me off from directly marketing my services directly to lenders. Now instead of building personal relationships with local lenders, it was illegal for me to even talk to them directly. Everything had to be run through the AMC which was a middle man that handled communication between the lender and myself. All of a sudden over half of my business vanished in literally one day and I just became a name on a list.

It became too expensive to maintain memberships for local MLS systems and liability insurance because the fees had been driven so low it was not feasible for me to stay in the game. I loved that job and when I first started out, it seemed like it was a rock solid career choice. How quickly it all changed. I don't feel bad about being a stay at home parent. I love my wife and kids more than words could ever explain. I like teaching the fitness classes at the dance studio but I don't know how much longer the owner will allow me to do it. I'm still not sure if going the personal trainer route is right for me. I'm not an in your face alpha kind of guy most gyms are looking for, and I hate selling shit to people. I keep fit, but I'm not that hardcore about exercise. It's important and necessary but that's not my main focus. I think you're right though, I need to figure out what motivates me and that's the problem I'm having. I was in the same routine for so long and now over the last six months things have been very fluid and ever changing. I guess it's just baby steps at this point. I've got so many things rushing around in my head all the time it's hard to concentrate on just one thing. So maybe I'll start putting things down on paper and see what comes out. I know this was rambling....but thanks for your time!