Income vs Net Worth: Can Rental Properties be a Full-Time Income?

Income vs Net Worth: Can Rental Properties be a Full-Time Income?

New to Real Estate · OH · Member since 2020 · 6 posts · 1 vote

Is rental property investing best for long-term wealth building, or is it possible to make a substantial monthly income from it too?

I'd love to hear stories from people that are making $5,000-$10,000+ per month in profit from rental property investing.

Here's why: I'm in my early 30's and run a successful business with a comfortable salary, so now I have two financial goals:

1. Diversify my income.

2. Build wealth for retirement.

I'm trying to decide between building another business and continuing to passively invest in an index fund and Roth IRA, or if I should start investing in rental properties. I don't have enough extra capital to invest seriously in all three, so I'd prefer to focus my time/money.

So, while I feel confident in my next business idea, I also know that about 2/3 of the businesses I've created over the years have failed to turn a significant profit, so real estate seems like a better way to diversify.

Here's the problem: From everything I'm reading, it seems like the cashflow from rental properties is relatively low on average (e.g. $200/month/unit seems to be a common example). It also seems like it's best to reinvest the cashflow over decades to build wealth and set yourself up for retirement. That's awesome, but that wouldn't help with my first goal of diversifying my income.

So, I'd love to know if it's feasible to build up to a reasonable monthly income ($5,000+) within 5 years of starting to buy rental properties, even if that means not reinvesting any of the profit.

I'm totally willing to put in the work, but if this strategy is best for long-term wealth building, knowing that upfront will help me decide whether or not to pursue a second business.

Thanks!

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  • New to Real Estate · Boynton Beach, FL · Member since 2018 · 59 posts · 31 votes
    6y

    I was just listening to Bigger Pockets Money Podcast #71 this morning and the guest (Sarah) has the ability to live off of her rental income.  I believe she has 14 units picked up over a span of five years.

    The beauty if real estate is that you have the ability to scale.  You mention that the typical return is $200/month/unit.  If you double the number of units you own each year it would look something like this:

    • Year 1: 1 Unit - $2,400/yr
    • Year 2: 2 Units - $4,800/yr
    • Year 3: 4 Units - $9,600/yr
    • Year 4: 8 Units - $19,200/yr
    • Year 5: 16 Units: $28,800/yr
    • And so on...

    Building a real estate income of $5,000+/month is certainly possible within five years but would most likely take a good amount of capital (or some great partnerships) to achieve.

  • Joe VilleneuvePro Member
    Plymouth, MI · Member since 2013 · 13k+ posts · 19k+ votes
    6y

    Cash flow at only 200/unit means you need to find a different market to invest in CF properties.  You should/could be getting twice that much...and yes, you can build wealth on rentals...even though I will tell you I wouldn't hold any individual rental for more than 5 years.

    I wonder how many REI that bought for future value, and with the aim of 100% equity for retirement, planned for how they would access all that equity...and what the impact of Capital Gains taxes would have on it?

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