Married, kids, jobs, mortgage, and curious about REI...

[Geoffrey K.]

I have been poking around BP for about a year now, hemming and hawing about what my future investment options are. While I am new to real estate investing and still educating myself on the concept, I have been intrigued by it time and time again from the podcasts, personal stories I read, and the wealth of knowledge answering questions I search for before actually asking.

My question however stems from my personal situation. I would love to hear some stories and experiences from individuals who have decided to pursue this either as an alternative career, or simply supportive to their already existing financial situation. For example, someone who is married, have kids, full-time jobs, and perhaps a little disposable income. I would appreciate hearing what motivated you to pursue REI and how you were able to go about it, despite the time commitments in the home.

Perhaps this could even be a topic for a future podcast...

Thanks!

[Michael Wagner]

I dont fit the bill you described exactly but back when we started in REI, my wife and I had full time jobs and a house with a mortgage as well as plans for kids in the not too distant future. We also had a certain amount of disposable income because of our modest lifestyle (read as...."this guys cheap!". We decided to take the plunge after part time investing for 4 years (2007-2011) so I quit my job to go full time. Though I was making decent money at my day JOB, I couldn't wrap my head around the idea of working my life away for someone else for the next 30 years in hopes that I would still be alive to enjoy retirement....Long story short, I quit my job to buy my first storage facility while my wife continued to work (FYI, her income represented 1/3 of what we were making at the time, I gave up 2/3). I spent full time hours at that facility for 1.5 years and then hired a manager 6 months before our first son was born. Since his birth in Sept. 2013, I have had to go to "the office" once every 1-2 months and my manager handles the day to day. My wife also quit her job when our son was born so we are now a "stay at home couple" operating that facility, one other storage facility as well as our remaining 8 MFH from home. Now we spend 10-15 hours per week overseeing/maintaining the businesses and spend the rest of our time chasing a 1 and 3 year old around. We travel 60-90 days per year and allocate an always variable amount of time to grow our REI ventures. The key is we fit that "business growth" around the LIFE we want to life as opposed to the other way around. Folks often describe what I have done as requiring courage and a "gamble" and while that may be true to some extent, we were careful to analyze our moves meticulously and to mitigate risk to the greatest extent possible. Personally, I view postponing enjoyment in order to hopefully save enough to retire someday is a far greater gamble. Thats not to say that delayed gratification isn't an important concept, it is! But its also critical that we enjoy the time we have and not slave a way at a job we don't love in home of having "freedom" someday! No one's death bed regret is that they didn't spend enough time working. Trading time for money should be done with the utmost caution! Sorry for the soapbox:)! I wish you the very best as you delve in REI. It truly can change your life!