Ross Budrakey

After graduating from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh, I spent summers working beside the ocean, winters skiing in the mountains, and nine months living in the Caribbean, where I learned to scuba dive and prepared for law school.

Law school taught me something almost immediately: there is a big difference between making a great living and living a great life.

I eventually entered the elevator industry. The upside was that I could buy a home and start a family. The downside was that I was rarely home for that family.

I had two young children and a third on the way. I was spending 50 to 60 hours a week working, plus an hour-and-a-half commute in each direction. I needed another path. Tax liens resonated with me, but my job kept getting in the way of building the business.

My boss called me into his office. My sales-manager position had been eliminated. I had one hour to clear out my office and company car before another car took me home. I had asked for a way out. Suddenly, I had one.

My first four auctions were discouraging. I struck out each time, but I hired a coach who helped me get over the hump.

In June 2012, I purchased my first redeemable deed in DeKalb County, Georgia, for just under $3,600. Approximately 16 months later, I sold the property for $165,000 and earned approximately $130,000 in net profit.

That result was exceptional and is not typical. But it proved to me that another life was possible. Tax liens became the doorway to multifamily real estate, private money, syndications, seller financing, car washes, laundromats, storage properties, and other creative investments.