Today’s episode is particularly raw and direct.  It’s about my TERROR in giving advice to you about investing, and about being responsible for the capital of others.  I’m Bryan Ellis.  This is episode 184.----Hello, SDI Nation!  Welcome to the podcast of record for savvy self-directed investors like you!  Get ready for another dose of Predictably Profitable thinking!Monday is, without a doubt, my very favorite day of the week.  I love the weekend, and the time with family and friends, and some rest.  Enjoying the waning days of my first daughter’s teenage years… watching my 15-year-old blossom… seeing both of those girls absolutely dote on their younger brothers, who are 1 and 2… and seeing those little boys transition from tiny infants capable of nothing into actual little people… it’s such a sweet, wonderful thing... and that time spent with and focused on them actually helps my mind to recharge and be ready for another great week of work… and that’s certainly the case today.I’m going to admit a certain terror to you, my friends.  I hope you’ll bear with a show of a bit more personal nature today.But first – if you’re in the Atlanta area, please be sure to stop by the Georgia Real Estate Investor’s Association meeting tonight.  I’ll be the featured speaker there, and I’ll be talking about how to raise capital for real estate transactions.  Now you, my friends, are more likely to be an investor of capital than someone who raises it.  But I GUARANTEE you’ll find it fascinating, because you’ll see in graphic detail the reverence with which I view the notion of controlling or influencing the capital of my clients.  And besides, I’d LOVE to meet you and even have a drink with my listeners after the presentation, so when you come tonight, please do be sure to introduce yourself to me… I’d really love to meet you.  Anyway, to be sure you get the notice with information about the time and location for tonight’s meeting of the Georgia Real Estate Investor Association, just text the word SDIRADIO with no spaces or periods to 33444 and I’ll send the reminder to you.Folks, as you know, I give out financial analysis and suggestions regularly on this show.  And you may also know, I run a private equity fund that focuses on purchase and resale of houses in certain strategic markets.  It’s been doing very, very well.  In fact, on tomorrow’s episode of Self Directed Investor Success Stories, I’m going to profile the latest deal that we closed this past week.  I’m totally confident you’ll be impressed.And you know, that success wasn’t by accident.  I’ve really done my homework.  I’ve really checked out the markets in which we focus; I’ve researched the PEOPLE who are working for and with me; I routinely monitor the economic situations and other macro issues that could affect what we’re doing.  I pay attention… CLOSE attention… every single day.So what you hear on this show is confidence.  And I am confident.  I’ve made a series of well-researched decisions.  I’m staying on top of everything.  I treat every single penny I manage as if it’s my own because here’s how I see it:  My client are risking money, and I’m risking my reputation.  My client’s capital… and the safety of it… is job #1.  Protecting that money is the first thing I care about.  And by extension, protecting my reputation is critically important to me, too… more than I can ever express.So the confidence with which I speak to you is well-founded.  It’s not an accident.  The evidence of the accuracy of my words is all around us.  There’s simply no arguing that it’s wiser to buy real estate below market value than at or above it.  There’s no arguing that engineering your investments in such a way that they’re predictable and profitable is very wise.  It’s beyond debate that investments secured by collateral are safer than those not secured by collateral.  These things are true.  These things are wise.  These things can’t be credibly challenged.And yet, in implementing those abstrac