Have you actually tracked FULL time spent in real estate?

[Justin Chidester]

Have you actually tracked, with, say, 90%+ accuracy/confidence, the true number of hours spent in acquiring and then managing your first rental property through the first year?

I'm a really big fan of the "time is money" concept as taught in the book "Your Money Or Your Life." I think the true measurement of ROI on any investment opportunity - real estate, stock market, starting a business - should take into account not only monetary expenses, but time expenses, in the very literal way the book teaches.

True time spent would include any of the following, as applicable:

• Initial real estate learning and education - forums, articles, podcasts, webinars
• Researching local deals
• Shopping around, including travel
• Getting mortgage quotes, talking to lenders, closing on the loan
• Repairs and work on property before renting out
• Finding tenants
  Phone calls, texts, emails, and communication related to any of the above

Unless we track it, we significantly and severely underestimate the time spent on something (just like with money and budgets). My hunch is that I'm not trying to make a case against real estate investing here, I understand there is so much potential ROI, compound effect, so on etc. I just want to know the true time cost so I can calculate true net ROI.

This data concluded that home buyers spend 124 hours on average to find a home. 

I would imagine it's even more if it's an investment property as opposed to your primary residence.