Enough is enough and I've had enough
Hello fellow BP members. I currently live in Sarasota, FL area and have really had enough.
I've been working a J.O.B. for long enough. I read RDPD a couple years ago and it definitely piqued my interest into REI. I've tried starting a few times but keep getting held up by either paralysis by analysis or that fear of failure. I've decided that it's time to stop letting those two roadblocks keep me from the financial freedom I want for my wife's and my future and I have simply had enough of working a J.O.B.
I live in Sarasota, FL and am wanting to start by either wholesaling or flipping (I don't want to BRRRR yet simply because I want to get at least 15 deals under my belt before I even look at that). I want to connect with other investors in the area (Bradenton, Sarasota, Lakewood Ranch, Venice, North Port, etc.) and start learning and growing. So if you are in the area and do wholesaling or flips, I want to connect with you and see how I can best help YOU (and in turn help myself). I'm ready to learn and grow!
@Samuel McCart Surround yourself with like minded individuals. Find a way to add value for other investors and it will come back around to you. It's the fastest path for success in this business. I have a close friends that don't invest in real estate, stocks, or bonds. We DON'T talk about real estate, stocks, or bonds. It's a waste of my time. I talk about these subjects with other friends and professionals that are investing for the long haul. If you want to flip properties start talking to contractors. Walk up to an active job site and get a phone number. I did that when I started out and found an amazing roofing contractor. I hired him for my property and have since recommended him at least 10 times. I was even able grab coffee with another investor. It was a wakeup call for me.
It's difficult to find deals right now so try other angles. Wholesaling is just a niche of REI and it's played out right. That's just my opinion. Consider property management, contracting/remodeling, getting a real estate license, or start applying for new J.O.Bs in the real estate field. Cheers man.
#4 All Forums Contributor
- Plymouth, MI
What types of education have you been collecting? I'm not talking about information, I'm talking about education. There's a difference. Information is a series of individual brief topics, with enough verbiage on that topic to be able to answer trivia questions, and in the case of REI perk your interest into wanting to start...but, not enough to actually know where to start. If you do start using this info, you usually get stuck somewhere because the into is incomplete, disjointed, and only a part of the entire system that is REI.
Education takes the definition of information, ane fills in the blanks, connects the dots between other sources of info and topics, and gives you enough to start, and beyond.
The main reason most can't get started isn't what you mentioned. The main reason for what you mentioned, too much info and lack of knowledge.
You may not want to hear this but the best way to invest in RE is to have a good paying job so you have money to invest. The 2nd best way is to get a job in RE and learn while you earn. You need either money or experience.
The worst way to start is to read a book, quit your job, and try wholesaling or flipping. I wish there was a statistic on this but the failure rate of that strategy has to be close to 95%.
get licensed as a Realtor.
@Nick C. I definitely have not quit my job. I want to but I'm not going to handicap myself like that.
@Joe Villeneuve I've mainly been reading and listening to the BP Podcast. The paralysis I am referring to is the "what if" scenario.
#4 All Forums Contributor
- Plymouth, MI
Originally posted by @Samuel McCart:@Nick C. I definitely have not quit my job. I want to but I'm not going to handicap myself like that.
@Joe Villeneuve I've mainly been reading and listening to the BP Podcast. The paralysis I am referring to is the "what if" scenario.
What have you been reading? What you described as "doing" is what I would define as info. It's a lot of very good info, but still just info
@Joe Villeneuve "What you described as "doing" is what I would define as info."
That's exactly what I did for about 2 years before realizing I wasting my own time. Wanting and doing are completely different things. Until I started driving for dollars, walking properties, connecting with contractors, and swinging hammers I wasn't doing very much. I agree with you.
Sarasota is a tough market to start in. Home prices are through the roof and if you do find a deal there are 50 investors bidding on it. If you do come across a property that you are interested in use the bigger pocket tools and make sure the numbers work for you. Also always have some reserve cash on had for repairs and emergencies. Bigger pockets is all the education you need to start to invest in real estate.
"I an't gunna work on Maggies Farm no more" Is the battle cry of BP.
Be careful jumping off that bridge.
Things to consider:
1. If you leave is there a path back to that job or industry? Many careers do not allow you to jump back in.
2. What will you do for health care?
3. Do you have enough cash to pay your bills for 6-9 months until your first deal is completed?
4. Will you have enough working capital to complete the project?
5. What happens if your first full time deal goes sideways or does not yield much?
6. Have you taken as much Fannie Mae conventional / HELOC money as you can get. Have you open as many credit cards as you can based on your w2 income.
7. Should you sell your primary home? You may consider selling, renting or downsizing? Should you try to buy a duplex and live in one side. Can you take on a room-mate?
8. Could you do something to make the J.O.B more tolerable.
9. Could you do both? Perhaps be less focused on the day job and more attention to the RE.
10. Will you / spouse be able to sleep if this is not a home-run from day one? It takes time to really figure out how to make money consistently. It is likely you will struggle for a period of time.
If the only reason you are leaving your job is because you hate it and have not been planning the move for 6 to 12 months. Don't do it, unless you are flush with cash and didn't really need the job in the first place. There are no podcasts on, "it did not work out and I went back to my J.O.B." No one tells that stroy, except your angry aunt who, "told you so".
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Real Estate Agent FL (#sl3322996)
- (904) 316-4306
- [email protected]
@Samuel McCart sounds like you are ready to move on and get educated to be able to take on the real estate world in full force. I would get your hands on as many books, keep listening to podcasts, go to local meetups, meet with local investors, and hire a coach if possible when you get to a place that you can afford it. Those things will put you on the fast track to being a true professional that is successful in your own market and in real estate!
1. You need a job to be able to invest. If you want to invest don't quit your day job.
2. I quit my suffocating Monday through Friday 9a-5p corporate job with 25 days off a year to go work for myself 5a to 9pm Monday through Sunday with 0 days off per year... Be careful what you wish for.
3. Be thankful you have a job, you get to learn about business systems, customer service, having a boss, etc... All those things you learn will matter when you try to start your side hustle.
4. Wholesaling is not a great way to get into the business. Very few succeed and those that do normally were already successful in another part of the industry and moved into that part of the industry because they had a steady stream of buyers and deal flow. Its dam near impossible to develop those two things without any experience. Stranger things have happened, and its not impossible but, why take a path which such a low success rate?
RE investing can be the greatest thing to ever happen to you, if you have the patience to slowly build.
We are in the middle of one of the hottest job markets in a generation. If you don't like your job, the odds are stacked heavily in your favor that you can find another job, in the same industry or function, with a better firms, that pays more.
That will solve your main problem of hating your 9-5 so much.
The increased pay/ enjoyment will leave you with more time and $ to get your flywheel moving, slowly at first, toward REI.
Best of luck
@Samuel McCart, I would like to add that flipping homes and wholesaling is a job. You will be self employed but it is a "job" and not investing. Lots of people talk about BRRRR but forget that in the end they are a landlord. The more you brrrr the more units you have and tenants you have to deal with .
REI is not a get rich quick scheme. It is a building wealth over time deal. If you dont have the pile of cash to use as seed money it will be slower still. If you want to flip houses realize that GCs are months out for new jobs and you will have a very hard time finding a good contractor in the beginning.
In my opinion, the best way to get going is to buy a house as your primary, live there for a year then rent it out. Or if you have the means you can try your hand at flipping but again that is not as easy as it sounds unless you have experience and connections.
Perhaps you can join your local rental owners association or REI groups and start getting plugged in.... but dont quit your job!!!
@Samuel McCart
If you're waiting to get "15 deals" under your belt you won't start. That's just another way of procrastinating. The best way to start is to purchase now. Preferably a 2 unit under FHA financing but at least a house in a appreciating neighborhood that you can rent out in a year. Anything else is B.S.
@Samuel McCart it is good that you seem to know what you want to do (wholesale/flip) before becoming a landlord, but I would ask yourself why you set an arbitrary number of deals before you keep one that will ultimately be the driver that provides you freedom. Flipping and wholesaling are transactional - meaning you need to keep doing them over and over again to generate income. Therefore you just created a new J.O.B. For yourself. These methods can be great to provide some extra cash, but they will not provide the freedom you want unless you scale to a level that you have a team that does all the work for you.
Buy a house hack with a conventional mortgage to get over your fear of tenants. You can do a flip at the same time. But ultimately you’ll want to hold cash flowing assets to achieve that freedom.
@Samuel McCart, REI is tough, as many above mentioned. That being said, if your wife is on board, the quickest way in is through house-hacking. If you can find a 4 unit, that's the best move, as you can have an asset you can hold when you move out, as well as multiple tenants providing streams of income.
Start looking up events near you on BP, Meetup, Eventbrite, FB groups, and REIA. There you will meet like-minded people, and perhaps even find a job there. You can go work for a title company, RE brokerage, loan agency, or something else in the RE field to give you an even better footing.
Good luck!
#2 General Landlording & Rental Properties Contributor
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#2 General Landlording & Rental Properties Contributor
Buy something like a duplex where you can live in half and rent the other half out. After 2 years repeat the process. Buy where the tenant's rent covers well over half of the expenses and such that your living expenses also decrease (eg your current rent is $1000, mortgage would be $1000 but with the tenant's rent paying most of that). Don't forget to factor in other expenses.
As others said, most need a job to qualify for a mortgage. If you don't like your current job, find another one...after you get the mortgage.
I appreciate all your feedback and advice/tips!
I am well aware that REI is not a get rich quick or that it is a "work 2 hours a day" type of business. The main goal of my post was to seek out investors in my area to network with through this wonderful community. @Scott Wolf that is a fantastic idea of the meetup type app and utilize that.
The nice part is that I'm definitely not going to be quitting my job until I get to a place where I feel comfortable doing so and jumping into REI full time. I don't like my job, however, I can still perform it enough to pay the bills and use that extra cash to start investing.
#3 Investor Mindset Contributor
- Handyman
- Pittsburgh, PA
Originally posted by @Samuel McCart:I appreciate all your feedback and advice/tips!
I am well aware that REI is not a get rich quick or that it is a "work 2 hours a day" type of business. The main goal of my post was to seek out investors in my area to network with through this wonderful community. @Scott Wolf that is a fantastic idea of the meetup type app and utilize that.
The nice part is that I'm definitely not going to be quitting my job until I get to a place where I feel comfortable doing so and jumping into REI full time. I don't like my job, however, I can still perform it enough to pay the bills and use that extra cash to start investing.
In that case, it might help to look closely at strategies to start minimizing those bills so you can maximize how much investment capital you can put together.
You are in good company. I don't like my job, either. And to explain the reaction of the community to your initial post, you would probably have difficulty believing how many newbies these forums get on a weekly basis that are dying to quit their jobs immediately, IMMEDIATELY so they can go on to what they believe is the easier money and shorter hours of real estate investing. It's nuts, Sam. Anyway, good luck to you!
@Samuel McCart Congrats on making the decision to take action. I am a flipper and buy and hold investor in Lee and Charlotte County just south of you. I would suggest getting to know the Sarasota county so you can recognize a deal or mispriced property on the MLS/realto.com etc. Drive for dolalrs and get leads and have a first hand knowledge of the local neighborhoods and values. Learn how to search the county records to find owners and try to contact. It's a numbers game. I have flipped 4 houses within a miles of my house. deals are out there. Good Luck.
@Samuel McCart
To add to some of the others posts—Quitting your job isn’t going to solve any problems. However the motivation to quit your job can help push you in the right direction, but you have to have a bigger “why” than just getting out of a crappy job.
I was working corporate 4 years ago at a great company but it was keeping me away from my family when my son was a year old.
Rental properties gave me the “extra” income to change to a job that would have me home more and much less stress. I moved into the remodeling field because it’s what my family does, but maybe after a while of doing real estate and your full time job you’ll find something that will work to move into that won’t take away your W-2.
I thought I would only need 20 properties to stop working full time, but after now acquiring 45 properties we realized that we have a bigger long term goal than to just “retire”, we want to make an impact on those around us for the Kingdom of God and to just “retire” would be a waste of our talents that He has given us.
Best to you brother as you figure this out. We all want to point you in the right direction.
Zac
Most journeys are a progression. Once a person has hit a certain momentum it has away of leading the way.
Quote from @Lesley Resnick:OK, I see you're gonna bring the Dylan off the shelf to deal with this - nice :)
"I an't gunna work on Maggies Farm no more" Is the battle cry of BP.
Be careful jumping off that bridge.
Things to consider:
1. If you leave is there a path back to that job or industry? Many careers do not allow you to jump back in.
2. What will you do for health care?
3. Do you have enough cash to pay your bills for 6-9 months until your first deal is completed?
4. Will you have enough working capital to complete the project?
5. What happens if your first full time deal goes sideways or does not yield much?
6. Have you taken as much Fannie Mae conventional / HELOC money as you can get. Have you open as many credit cards as you can based on your w2 income.
7. Should you sell your primary home? You may consider selling, renting or downsizing? Should you try to buy a duplex and live in one side. Can you take on a room-mate?
8. Could you do something to make the J.O.B more tolerable.
9. Could you do both? Perhaps be less focused on the day job and more attention to the RE.
10. Will you / spouse be able to sleep if this is not a home-run from day one? It takes time to really figure out how to make money consistently. It is likely you will struggle for a period of time.
If the only reason you are leaving your job is because you hate it and have not been planning the move for 6 to 12 months. Don't do it, unless you are flush with cash and didn't really need the job in the first place. There are no podcasts on, "it did not work out and I went back to my J.O.B." No one tells that stroy, except your angry aunt who, "told you so".
Anyway, yeah - just about anything you need to know has already been posted. I won't discount the value of a catalyst like despising your job to give you the push you need to do something else, but I would ask: what will make you, and this time, different?
On the flip side, I wouldn't think of real estate investing as something other than a job. It's a different kind of job, but don't think you're not going to work at it.
Oh man that is rough, house prices have doubled in Sarasota since my friend bought there and you missed out. But if it makes you feel any better I was in paralysis for 12 years before jumping in and growing to 40 doors.