Meet David Gulick: Bankruptcy, Bar Tending, Real Estate: Here’s How He Found Greater Meaning In Life

Real estate for most aspiring entrepreneurs, is seen as the perfect opportunity to start a business and build a legacy. And there’s a good reason for this. Words like leverage, control, passive income, and equity spell out financial freedom to those that have such dreams. While the picture that these words paint is pretty enough, no one talks about the other words that are often associated with real estate. Bankruptcy, law suits, recessions, over-leveraging and foreclosures are just as common as finding success in real estate investing. David Gulick is fortunate to understand both sides of the coin. Currently, he has a comfortable lifestyle that allows for him to surf, travel and enjoy life. This dream life is funded by his work as both a real estate agent and investor. Although he is comfortable now, his life was not always so easy. Here’s his story.

In 2000, David Gulick, aka mediumwavedave, started his journey in real estate. “I started going to seminars and reading books.” Just like most, he had entered real estate with the hope of building cash flow and building a life of freedom. His journey started in wholesaling and quickly found success. After some time in wholesaling, he started to build his own rental portfolio. For the better part of a decade, he found good success. Just as it did for many, the recession of 2008 burst his bubble of success and he lost everything. “It started with one tenant at a time. Before I knew it I saw myself going under.” Although he caught things early and tried to work his loans out with the bank, he realized it was time to walk away. “I declared bankruptcy in 2010 and left the real estate world.” Needing to build an income again, he found himself working as a bartender at exclusive bars and restaurants throughout New York and the Hamptons.

After a decade serving as a bartender, he found his life put on a sudden halt for a second time. This time it wasn’t the result of an economic cycle, it was the world being forced to a grinding stop by the Covid pandemic. “It was a rug pull for me. I took it as time to get back into real estate again.” Over the last few years, Gulick has built up his wealth through real estate for the second time. “This time I’m taking my time, I learned how to read the market, build a team and scale in a sustainable way.”

Although Gulick has built his wealth through real estate twice, he is not driven by money and success. He believes anyone that is looking to find fulfillment in life should focus on two things. Quality of life and relationships. “A job is just what you do to get paid.” For Gulick, real estate is just a tool. “Real estate is hard and I enjoy it, but I do it so I can pay for the things that make me happy.” The second piece of his success is his focus on relationships. Whether he was serving as a bartender or as an agent, he looked to build meaningful relationships with everyone that he talked to. The result? He has built a network of clients and partners that he can do business with. “It’s crazy. I find myself doing business with the same people that I was serving drinks to over the last ten years.”

Over the next few years, Gulick is looking to build his real estate empire and platform to help others live a fulfilling life. “Real estate is the perfect tool for anyone looking to find freedom and have the ability to be creative and chase their dreams.”

David Gulick, aka mediumwavedave, is an established real estate agent and investor. If you are interested in keeping up with him, you can follow him on Instagram. You can also contact him directly via LinkedIn