Emperor,
I’m going to try to not buy anything this year because I’ve already exceeded my goal and now want to get everything stabilized so that I can evaluate whether to continue buying or stop with what I have.
My purpose in getting into the rental property business was NOT to take over the world. I do not want to be the next Donald Trump or to become filthy rich. How much is enough? (that could be a topic all by itself) My purpose is to find that sweet spot where I can do what I want, when I want, and have enough money to do so. Right now I work on average 12-16 hours each week and yet still have enough money to enjoy my lifestyle (of course, I would always like more) and have the toys I want. If I buy too many properties, I’ll need to work more. I could hire a property manager and hire paid maintenance, but then I would need double the number of rentals to have the same spendable income and would have absolutely nothing to do (which is not good).
I need to take some time off from buying rentals to stabilize the business so that I can accurately evaluate my position. When you are building a business, it is not stable. In other words, as I acquire rentals, I am spending money to do the initial rehabs and cycling through the inherited tenants - therefore the cashflow stream is not stable. In this business building phase, the cash flow is always lacking what it will be once things are stabilized. I am right now buying 10 more rentals and it will take about 6 months to really get everything stabilized (units rehabbed, tenants rung-out, everything the way I want it).
So, my goal for this year is to get everything stabilized and see if I’m done. The difficulty is that buying rentals is addicting and we are in a great economy for buying! Just 10 minutes ago, I got a call from someone that wanted to sell me their house. Fortunately, it wasn’t a good deal and therefore I wasn’t tempted.
Mike