Are my goals too small?

Question

Hi - new to bigger pockets and investing.

I have set a 12 month goal to sell my primary property, and purchase a duplex as a house hack. I should be done with my current "live in flip" in 6 months or so and when I sell should take about 200k in equity out. I need to wait until next summer to sell to capitalize on the 2 of 5 year rule.

I feel like my goal is to small but I don't know what else I would do. I do have a w2 job as well. I feel the next 12 months are going to be boring for me with my current goal. I hear all of the podcasts of people buying 10-100 units a year and am kind of stuck.

My 5 year goal is $3000/month in cash flow. thanks

Evan Polaski · Answer

@Tom Scrima, first other people's goals do not need to be your goals.  Many people posting here want to replace their W2 job they dislike with arguably a more frustrating job of being a landlord.  Owning one property is fairly passive, until you have to replace your manager or call roofing contractors while on vacation.  Owning 10 can sometimes feel like a part time job.  Owning 100 units is very much a full time job if you are the manager, and if you have a manager, you are still likely involved on a daily basis to approve spending, review operations, etc.

The other thing with goals (and I am all for setting aggressive goals to push yourself against) is until you start somewhere, you have no basis to know if it is reasonable or even something you like.  Additionally, buying 5-100 units per year, to me, is not a goal.  It is a way to make other people think you are successful.

Goals should be lifestyle based, in my opinion.  Money is a tool to create a lifestyle.  And real estate is one of many different options that can be used to generate money to achieve that lifestyle.  Therefore, real estate goals should be driven by financial outcome, not unit count.

Joe Villeneuve · Answer

Who cares what other people's goals are?  They mean NOTHING to you...N   O   T   H   I   N   G   !!!!!

Why do you think your goals are too low...and don't say, "...because other...".