I would love to hear from fulltime investors that have several rental properties without another job. What advice would you give and can you realistically do this without a second traditional job? I started this only to flip, although it looks like I will be in the rental market instead…Thanks for all coments that you may have.
Most people on here don’t own rental properties full time, but many own rentals and many invest in other “forms” of real estate. I for one own a dozen rentals (most paid for in cash) and growing, and I have two other businesses that I own.
Now is definitely not the time to flip, at least in most metropolitan areas, as property values are still not appreciating enough to justify taking the risk. Some people are doing it, but they are few & far apart.
Being able to earn enough money from real estate (or a business), to quit your job, is very doable. I did that myself a few years ago, and it wasn’t that hard. It was SCARY at the time considering I had the best job of my life, but looking back it now seems like … blah … it was no big deal. And it was definitely one of the best decisions I have ever made in my lifetime.
The key thing is you want to earn enough money to live off of your assets (business, rentals, whatever), and have enough money in reserve or enough ‘expansion opportunity’ in your business so that when you quit your job and have that extra time, you can rapidly expand your business (or your rental property holdings) so that you will be secure for the rest of your life. So if you need $6000 a month to live off, you will have to work harder to quit your job than if you need $3000 a month to live off of. Once you put yourself in a position where you only need $3000 to live off of, and you are making $6000 a month, it’s truly not that hard to get to $9000, $12000 or even $24000 a month…granted the time it takes to reach those higher levels of income is controlled by how good of an investor you are, but it will happen the more sophisticated you get. I have been there, done that. And I know if I can do it, you can do it.
I am in a position now where I do not work for money. Money works for me. And I am just getting started.
If you’ve ever played Rich Dad Poor Dad’s Cashflow 101 boardgame… that is actually very realistic game on what it takes to get out of the rat race. Checkout http://www.richdad.com/store/productdetail.aspx?id=1 or I think there is a new online version that’s free or cheap - go to richdad.com and search around their website. Let us know if you have any additional questions.
Good luck.
I am a lot like motivatedceo. I have a job but I worked my lifestyle to the point that my living expenses are paid by my rentals. Most people think that they work for money but studies show that people work for 4 basic reasons. 1)Money, 2)achievement and recognition, 3)social values, and 4)to get the job done. I always say that if you don’t love your job get another one. I make a lot of money and so does my wife. All of the money from our jobs is “extra” money. I set up to quit my job when I started buying houses but as my income from my houses started growing I started to work less and less for the money and my already great performance started getting better and better. The year my income from my rentals equaled my expenses I received 2 raises and a promotion at work.
If I quit my job I literally would sit at home and do exactly what I do at work. I just wouldn’t get paid for it. I know a dentist that said he hated his job and wanted to do what I was doing. I showed him and he started buying real estate and making a lot of money with his rentals and then he cut his Saturday office hours and stopped taking early appointments that required him to get up at 5:00am to get to the office and basically started enjoying dentistry again. He told me that he is proud of being a dentist. It was a large part of his self esteem, he just wanted a life outside of his practice. His real estate allowed him to do that.
If you want to quit your job with real estate that is fine but just like the advice you get when you win the lottery, figure out what you are going to do everyday before you quit your job. There is only so much golf you can play. Remember don’t retire FROM your job retire TO some activity or calling.
I am a first-time investor so I thought I would share the reason why I am getting into this business. I am purchasing a property to rent in a college town which provides some degree of reliability in terms of rental income for the long-term (naturally with irregular vacancy). The reason why is so I can generate rental income to cover my living expenses.
Obviously, it will not be 100 percent covered with my first property but with the plan in place to purchase another property within 18 months to rent out, it will cover 100 percent of my living expenses (nothing more). Eventually I will exit the market when the time is right for the individual property but to be honest with you, I am enjoying the experience of researching for the next “hidden gold nugget” and figuring out how to generate income and capital gains so I don’t have to work for that growth.
How are you coming along with your “flip” rental?
Thanks for your posts!! They are very good and I tried out “Rich Dad” last night…very cool indeed!!
You asked how my flip is going…well lets just it is kinda a flop, although somehow I will turn it into something that will be worthwhile. Several mistakes here…1st I started with a 2br 1 bath. I only gave $20,000 and repairs I have about $28,000 total in it. I made another mistake by investing most of my cash in it, otherwise I would rent it and buy another house. My credit has taken a hard hit also…so it will be hard to get financing to buy another house…unless you have other suggestions. Right now my thought is to rent it and have some cash flow and then find a subject to for the next house and continue the rental game.
I work re all the time. I am also an agent, although the reason I got my license was so I could get in houses when I needed to. My 1st love is rei…it’s what I love so hopefully I will get smarter and make some money. Thanks so much for the advice from people that has already been there. I admire your hard work that made it pay off for you :beer