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Posted about 10 years ago

When Should You Quit?

I've been trying to become a wholesaler for the better part of 5 years now. My story is not to far off from many other people before me. I work a full time job, have a wife and an almost 2 year old son. Between those things I have very little time to do anything related to real estate investing. The age old saying "If you want something hard enough you make time for it" is very true.

Some people can easily carve out more time by just not sleeping as much. My brother can sleep 3 hours per night and be a perfect functioning human being. I however become a total zombie if I get anything less then 7. Is it better to work longer but less efficient or work shorter and be focused? I say it's the latter.

This post isn't about when you should quit your job, it's about when you should quit on your real estate investing dream?

I'll admit this up front, I'm way to stubborn to admit failure and quit. I always just put my head down and punch away until I achieve what I set out to do. I don't mind failing because I learn best when I fail.

There however comes a time when you have to take a step back see if your situation lends itself to succeeding in wholesaling. My free time is after 8pm at night and at other random times during the day…30 minutes here…15 minutes there. The only solid day hours I have is lunch time.

I hate to think that all I'm doing is making excuses saying that I don't have the time to talk to sellers, visit their properties or spend 40 hours a week making my dream of leaving my 9to5 a reality. They are excuses, but the reason I don't have the time is all about my family. Family comes first, my job supports my family. So if these are my excuses then I'm fine with that.

So do I quit wholesaling and put my efforts towards something that fits my time better? Is being a landlord the answer?


Comments (9)

  1. Then I would go with the buy & hold route. Wholesaling isn't really investing its basically acting as an unlicensed agent. Buy & Hold is more passive & much easier to succeed.


  2. Ever thought about picking up your RE license and working as an agent part time?


    1. Thanks for the comment James. I actually just let my license lapse because it wasn't worth the yearly fee since my partner has his license. I'm not very interested in selling on the residential side of things at the moment. I've got a full time job and any free time I get I want to devote to investing. I couldn't take on listings or showing people houses.


  3. Thanks for the comments everyone! I'll try and answer some of the questions... I've done about a half dozen deals in the last 3 years (first 2 years was nothing). So I was making progress. I just can't make it scale because of my time and resources. Like Roger said, wholesaling takes a lot of time and I finally have come to the realization that it just doesn't fit in with my current life situation. I like the idea of buy and hold and think that fits better. My only hangup is I have to try and see if it will work in the areas around where I live. Traveling 1 hr round trip to a rental probably wouldn't work and would drive me crazy. For the most part I do a good job of maximizing my time. I've systematized as many tasks as I can. In the end I'm not quiting...I'm pivoting and adjusting my strategy. I'm never going to give up that is for damn sure.


  4. I think reassessing is a good idea. If time is the only issue then make a schedule. There always time, we forget to use efficiently or well. I have worked from home for years and it's easy to get distracted. There is a new App. on I-phone that texts you randomly to see how happy you are but maybe it can be used otherwise. We always make time for the things we want or love. while this is true, it's my guess that either you have not found a deal or one that leaves enough meat on the table when you're done. While family does come first, a little time put aside now can make a lot more time in the future. It's a trade off. Just make sure when you put time aside it gets used for the purpose it was intended. Don't give up, Change tactics, until you get that first deal. After that everything will change for the better.


  5. If after 5 years you're not making headway, it is time to reassess. There's nothing wrong with a job as long as you understand the tradeoffs and feel you're adding value there. I'd look at buy and hold investing for someone with the time pressures that you express if you really have an interest in real estate investment.


  6. Have you been working on this for 5 years without doing a deal? Or have you done some but can't scale up more with the time crunch? If you haven't done any it is probably time to reassess what you want to do. If you need more volume but see time as the major barrier then you have to sit down and find a way to get some time to ramp up.


  7. I'm new to the investing world, but it seems to me maybe you need a fresh start idea. Why are you so set on wholesaling? Have you ever thought about flipping an actual house vs. the contract only? If $$ is an issue, their is always hard $$$ and possibly private $$$ from people you may already know. Get a realtor on your side and start checking out MLS for potential flips. Just a thought. Best of luck. It's not over until you quit....


    1. A lot of the new people that I see on BP want to get started by wholesaling. And we have all heard a lot from successful wholesalers. But I would bet that there are hundreds of unsuccessful wholesalers to every one that makes it. Personally wholesaling seems like a lot of work to me and probably not as easy for a part timer as you might think. I am very happy to be a buy and hold guy.