…plenty of people who like working and just wish they were their own boss. They aspire to have their own little company to provide them with what they want out of life. They figure if they didn’t have a job to go to, they’d be bored.
Some of these people get into real estate. They buy a rental unit, start doing the property manager thing, and making a little money on the side. They refuse to become full blown property managers (because then they’d have to manage OTHER people’s property and those other people would be the BOSS and that would ruin the whole thing) so they just wish they had enough rental properties so that they could spend their whole time going from one to another, collecting the rent, puttering at fixing things…
UNTIL, of course, they actually have 20-30 units (and probably 20-30 bank accounts that haven’t been reconciled for the past 4-6 months) and they have to prepare and file their tax returns…
Then they show up on my door around April 1 to hire me to evict that tenant that hasn’t paid in the past two months, to go through their bank statements and reconcile them and to get the figures they need to their accountant in time to get tax returns filed on April 15. And they keep their J.O.B. because they like it better than property management.
Posted by Michael Carr on April 25, 1999 at 13:37:42:
I bought the Carlton Sheets real estate course several years
ago and have had some success, but would like to increase
my portfolio over time. Right now I own three rentals and
am currently at work purchasing a new duplex.
The problem is, I have a limitted amount of free time to
spend on aquiring new properties. Unfortunately, what I’ve
often seen is that people either do nothing, or throw
themselves into this stuff with all the zeal of a new Amway
convert.
What’s your plan with this? Is this a side-thing so that when you retire you’ll be self-sufficient, or is this intended to continue to grow until such time as you can quit your day job and be a real estate investor?
We can’t plan for you. Once you express your plan we’ll all share our knowledge of which courses or paths to take.
Re: Plan the Work. Work the Plan. - Posted by Michael Carr
Posted by Michael Carr on April 25, 1999 at 15:11:04:
Good point. My main goal is net worth rather than quick cash gains. I would like to eventually accumulate a porfolio of approximately 20-30 units. I’m still fairly young at age 28, and feel I’ve got a good start, but want to start moving more quickly.
But once again, I’ve got other things happening in my life and don’t want to devote every spare minute to real estate.
Ok, let’s say you sit down and decide you want to have 30 units by the time you’re 35. You currently own 3 and are closing on a duplex, that’s 5 total. You’ll need another 25 in the next 84 months or basically one unit every 3 months.
Especially if you decide that you’re ready for multi-unit properties you can buy one four-unit a year and still reach that goal.
However if your goal is to have 30 units by age 30 you’ll need to buy 25 units in the next 2 years. That might interfere with your personal life.
People that go out and buy small income property are creating a job for themselves. Probably one person can maintain 20-30 alone. Good income but just another JOB. Hire a management company and give away 10% of the gross plus actual(inflated) repair costs. Leverage into property and sell owner financed. Works but takes 300-500K with 20% profit to support you. Learn how to buy without your money(infinite leverage), sell retail or to owner occupants and just collect the money. When you have solid income without working for it then that seems to be the time to look for income(rental) properties.
Do you want to be a property manager? maintenace man? rehab contractor? Or investor
…but for some people creating their own J.O.B. IS the goal. They just don’t want to have to report to a boss everyday. They want to be their own boss and work in an industry that they understand and like.
Who do you know that when given the opportunity to have a job or not have a job would choose the JOB? To have income you don’t need a job, but you do need knowledge,
a good working knowledge of business and investing.