Posted by Rob FL on April 26, 2000 at 10:45:27:
One thing I remember Carleton Sheets as well as several other people say (including myself) is owning properties at a distance is probably a big mistake.
It is quite a bit different when you are in town and can check up on things more regularly. Also another thought is to create your own management company with yourself as the President.
Just some thoughts of mine.
Hallelujah!!! NO MORE J.O.B.!!! - Posted by George(OH)
Posted by George(OH) on April 25, 2000 at 18:56:08:
I’m free!!! I put in my two week notice almost two weeks ago. Today my supervisor came to me and said I was free to go, I would get paid the rest of the day, and get paid for my unused PTO! I thought I would feel nervous or begin to second guess my decision, but I didn’t. It feels perfectly natural.
No stoppin’ me now! 40-50 hours a week of REI! I love it!!
God Bless,
George(OH)
Re: Hallelujah!!! NO MORE J.O.B.!!! - Posted by George(OH)
Posted by George(OH) on April 26, 2000 at 09:42:08:
Thank you to all for your comments and advice. I’m 30 years old, and I too, feel like I should have done this years ago!
Well, as much as I wanna stay and chew the fat, I’ll paraphrase Batman: “I’d like to…but I gotta go to work!”
God Bless,
George(OH)
Re: Hallelujah!!! NO MORE J.O.B.!!! - Posted by Stacy (AZ)
Posted by Stacy (AZ) on April 26, 2000 at 01:05:54:
Ya gots guts, kid. I couldn’t help but reply to your message and say…
KNOCK 'EM DEAD!
Stacy
Its like operating a convenience store - 7 days a week 12 hours a day !!! - Posted by John G
Posted by John G on April 25, 2000 at 22:03:07:
Its not 40 or 50 hours a week - its 12 hours a day 7 days a week. Week after week after week. At least for the first 3-4 years till you get this thing cranked up.After that you slow down to 40 - 50 hours a week.
Now, don’t get me wrong. You can make a real nice living and replace the average wage with just 2 or 3 decent deals a year. I mean a couple of nice rehabs where you pocket 20-30K per deal and then there might be the odd flip or lease option in there for good measure. But make no mistake about it - thats just replacing one JOB with another.And thats not the REAL reason you found the courage to quit the security of that J.O.B.
Let me explain further. I used to think that once I made a certain amount of money and did a certain number of deals in a year - that was it. Then I was finished. Sort of like carrying the “on the job” mentality into my own business.It was like my own little govenor telling me I was finished at 5 o’clock, just like the guys on the job.
But you know what I found. I had the same number of calls from tenants, and contractors and loan officers and buyers and sellers etc whether or not I was doing 1-2 deals a month or if I was doing 5 deals a month. In other words, if you are crazy enough (and gutsy enough) to quit a secure job and go at this full time then you have to change your whole way of thinking.You are working for yourself and everything you do is either bringing you closer to your goal or farther away. In other words, the clock is not the thing to watch - its the number of deals you do - all those things that put bread on the table.Its the difference between being busy and being productive.
If you can master this then you can master your life. Nowadays, I do more business in a three month period then I would think of doing in a full year before.
It used to scare me to death if I had more than 1 or 2 deals/jobs/purchases/sales on the go at any one time. But its all the same. You are still going 12 hours a day - 7 days a week with 1-2 deals as you are with 5-6 deals on the go. The only real difference is on payday - you get to cash in way bigger checks.
The other thing is when you get to take time off - you really get to take time off. I just came back from 3 weeks in sunny Florida (I am from the great white north) and included in that was a five star cruise with my wife and kids. It really does make the game a lot more fun.
So, to you and all the other would be “full-timers” realize that it is like operating a convenience store and you are open 7 days a week 12 hours a day.
Good luck and go get 'em !!!
Re: Hallelujah!!! NO MORE J.O.B.!!! - Posted by JohnB_NJ
Posted by JohnB_NJ on April 25, 2000 at 21:32:24:
Congrats, George.
I am at 16 months “JOB-Free”… Good luck and the best of success to you…
-John
You’ll never regret it - Posted by Nate Tyler
Posted by Nate Tyler on April 25, 2000 at 20:37:02:
I just passed my one year anniversary for full time REI.
Still can’t figure out why I didn’t do it sooner.
Congrats! Write if you need to…
Nate
Re: Hallelujah!!! NO MORE J.O.B.!!! - Posted by Ed Copp (OH)
Posted by Ed Copp (OH) on April 25, 2000 at 20:29:13:
Hey George,
What do you mean no job? You have got a better job now than you ever had. Just keep the boss happy and you will do quite well…ED
Way to go. - Posted by Rob FL
Posted by Rob FL on April 25, 2000 at 20:18:18:
Yes, do tell a little more details. I have been in the process of planning out my jump into full-time REI as well as setting up my Realtor’s office for about a year now and am getting close. I would love to hear your story.
How did you do it??? - Posted by Ed Ortiz
Posted by Ed Ortiz on April 25, 2000 at 19:48:22:
Can you give us some more details??
How long did you plan this for? How did you prepare yourself(mentally and economically)?? Just trying to set myself up for the BIG move 12 to 18 months… Any info will be appreciated.
Congatulations!!!
Ed Ortiz
Re: Hallelujah!!! NO MORE J.O.B.!!! - Posted by phil fernandez
Posted by phil fernandez on April 25, 2000 at 19:07:28:
George,
Congratulations. I am having a beer right now in your honor. Now keep in mind, once you have abandoned the JOB you have to stay focused.
Don’t rationalize that, “I don’t have a job so maybe I can take a few hours off.” Your new job is to be out all day every day looking for real estate deals.
Again Congrats.
Re: Its like operating a convenience store - 7 days a week 12 hours a day !!! - Posted by Rob FL
Posted by Rob FL on April 26, 2000 at 08:26:26:
Do you go after cashflow at all? I am still a part-timer, but one thing I noticed about the rental business is that I have to do the same amount of work whether the property is netting me $100 a month or $800 a month, whether from rentals, lease options, or mortgages. I figure cashflow is what sets you free, not just rehab and cash out. Once cashflow gets to a high enough point, you can hire somebody to take care of the management process.
Re: How did you do it??? - Posted by George(OH)
Posted by George(OH) on April 26, 2000 at 09:33:20:
Well, Ed, I’ve been wanting to do this for the last 3 years; ever since I took a REI class back in Detroit. I really have to thank God for having a wife who has been as supportive as she has been.
What we’ve done for the last 6-9 months was basically become as frugal as possible, while determining what we need dollar wise to just “get by”. We’ve been saving to the point where, at the minimum standard of living, we can survive for 6 months without either of us working. I posted a comment awhile ago that when you only make $1700/month, it’s not hard to get into the mindset of being thrifty as possible.
Another thing I’ve done, which I also posted as a suggestion, was to become registered with as many temporary agencies as possible. Right now I’m good to go with 8 of them. This will allow me, when needed, to go and “work” and bring in some type of income, but at the same time give ME the control and flexibility that I need as an entrepeneur.
I don’t think I’ll have to resort to it, though. I’m fairly confident that working with same effort and time for MYSELF, that I did for a heartless corporation, I’ll be more than OK. Did I mention that my former company laid off 168 people last week?
Sorry for being so long winded, and I hope I’ve helped. Gotta go and look up these phone numbers for these abandoned properties.
God Bless,
George(OH)
Management companies are not on my list of favorites !!! - Posted by JohnG`
Posted by JohnG` on April 26, 2000 at 09:43:35:
Cashflow is one of the income streams - I do everything including flips, rehabs, and some I keep for rent.
With regard to management companies - that was my dream - to have a bunch of nice cash flow properties and get a management company to deal with all the tenant headaches. What a great plan !
Well, I could stand that for a year. I had a large townhouse complex located 2000 miles from where I live and the management company was really doing a poor job. Example “Oh, we can’t go back and knock on the door and ask for rent if they don’t pay on the first - we would get charged for harrassment”.
An actual statement from this management company that is one of the largest and does a lot of work for the banks ie foreclosures etc.
So, I went down there unexpectedly one week and I saw something that just blew me away. As I went up to the resident managers door I saw a sign that said:
“No rents received after 6PM”.
That was it. I fired the whole gang right on the spot - the caretaker, the management company - everyone. Then I moved a couple out from my city and I am saving a great deal of extra “fluff” charges the previous company was charging me - PLUS I get my rents in on time and I have all my units rented. I tie my Managers salary to getting in ALL my rents ON TIME so it works well.
I am firmly opposed to management companies and I am talking about whether you have 10 units or 500 units.