BiggerPockets

interesting question. I guess most of people here are in the - broadly speaking - real estate business. Well, I am not. I work on development aid. I travel all over the world to discuss development agenda with government officials and recommend them how to change laws or build institutions. It is challenging, rewarding, and stimulating. I love it. But I now have two little children and would like to cut down on traveling, at least till they grow up. So I am hoping REI will give me some supplemental income to cut down my office hours (hence travel). Also, ultimately, I want to have my own charitable foundation to design my own development aid agenda in Africa. So for me REI is a way to buy my dream one day :D

T-bone, I hear you about living in an expensive area. Where I live is also very very expensive, and it is very tempting to invest elsewhere, but so far I am sticking to my neighborhood, just because I want to stay with what I know till I get comfortable with REI. So out of Sillicon Valley, where do you invest? How is it going?

I want to be a full time real estate investor.
I currently work in an entirely unrelated field of textiles. We produce and sell lace, for intimate apparel, all over the world. I do not get to travel all over the world, I just get to sit behind a desk. I want to get out of it entirely.
On the other hand, my husband is a web site designer. He is starting up his own business. So, we are hoping that out real estate investments will give us a little bit of a financial cushion as he starts.
Eventually I want the real estate investments to support both of us and our future family without having any other jobs or businesses.

1. i hate my current job w/out question. i work in manufacturing in an office, for family. i am trying to get a job in real estate development here in cleveland but have had no luck in even getting a bad job in the right industry. i have some RE experience, a finance degree, and a lot of ambition and discipline, but no luck.

2. i would invest full time if i could. i do not have the cash to do so, as i am 26 and just starting. but scraping everything and risking it all is what i am doing and where i am headed. i have my primary, a rental that just rented for the first time, and am working on getting a 4 unit that will return 8% net. I know this is paltry but it is all i can find/afford. the rent vs. buy here is too close, there seems to be no flow on anything i look at.

3. how much time? i spend all of my free time looking for property. all of it. i do not watch tv, play sports, or anything else.

doing it the hard way.

Strive.

I recently sold off 6 websites that I built, and am part owner of a lawncare business. So for now, I cut grass. :D

I am always fascinated by the varying backgrounds of people that are involved in real estate investing. Needless to say, we all have a drive to be something more than we are, and to be better off than we are.

I bought my current home that I live in four years ago. I bought knowing that I would eventually turn it into a rental property. It took me until last year to finally get over the being scared to purchase a rental property. in fact, I bought two. I bought a SFR and a duplex. I currently have a contract on a fourplex right now.

I live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. I am a licensed home inspector and a licensed real estate agent. I don't do much on the listing side of the RE world. I leave that for the Ebby's and the Remax style agents. I'm not saying anything bad about them, it's just not my thing. On the real estate side, I tend to focus more on property management. I am currently with a company that manages about 350 houses around the MetroPlex. I do hom inspections for both retail home buyers (owner occupieds) and also for investors. Having my day-to-day activities always in and around real estate helps me with my own investing directions. It also ends up being a great source for contacts. Around June, I will have my broker's license. I will likely take over as the broker for my current company. However, I will also be starting my own real estate company for a number of reasons.

Once I get to the point that I have enough residual income that I can retire with, I plan on continuing doing home inspections. I love inspecting homes. Granted, in the Texas summers, those 140 degree attics can make me rethink that, but I truly enjoy what I do. There isn't many occupations where you get paid to look out for people's best interest by helping them have a much better understanding of the investment which they are about to purchase. I do a lot of inspections for conventional and hard money lenders which allows me to build quality relationships with lender that can assist me with my own investments down the road. I also sit on city council for the small town in which I live. This helps me keep up to date with where developments locally and statewide are headed in the near future. I am involved with a number of different volunteer organizations including Meals on Wheels, Carter Blood Care, Chamber of Commerce, Historical Society, Main Street Program, and the local SPCA.

To answer your next question, no, I'm not married and I don't have children. I have to occupy my time somehow. I might as well do some good with it. :)

Have a great day and happy investing.

Lee Warren

Thanks esnuts for the question,
It's great to see such a range of occupations and interests. I'm a musician, I play a huge pipe organ at a church and direct the choir. I also work as an architect/designer custom designing high dollar residences for people. I too realized recently that my monthly income from real estate investments pays more than the 30 hours I spend working at my church. You mentioned the fact that you make more from investments than from selling real estate. My investor friends point out to me that in my hometown there are 1200 people " selling real estate" . He tells me that most of them are part time hobbyists (not that there's anything wrong with that). It just seems that a lot of these people are exposed to good deals but they don't take the initiative that the people reading these posts do to get out there and make real estate work for themselves.