Full Time Job/Investing in Real Estate

Springfield, MO · Member since 2017 · 158 posts · 114 votes

I would like to get involved in real estate when I get out of the military next year. Does anyone have any advice for a newbie who will have a full time nursing job (12 hour shifts 3 times per week) and a desire to do real estate on the side? My plan to start out is to buy a house while I finish nursing school (15 months) and then purchase a new house when I have more income and rent out the first house. Then basically repeat the process every 1-2 years.

@James Wise

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Veni F.Pro Member

BiggerPockets Support · Los Banos, Laguna · Member since 2017 · 320 posts · 99 votes

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Veni F.Pro Member
BiggerPockets Support · Los Banos, Laguna · Member since 2017 · 320 posts · 99 votes
9y
Welcome to the BiggerPockets family @Jessie Nunley! I have listed some helpful recommendations for you:
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Welcome aboard!!!
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Jessie Nunley
OP
Springfield, MO · Member since 2017 · 158 posts · 114 votes
9y
@Veni F. Thank you for the help!
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James Wise
Real Estate Broker · Cleveland Dayton Cincinnati Toledo Columbus & Akron, OH · Member since 2013 · 31k+ posts · 20k+ votes
9y
Originally posted by @Jessie Nunley:

I would like to get involved in real estate when I get out of the military next year. Does anyone have any advice for a newbie who will have a full time nursing job (12 hour shifts 3 times per week) and a desire to do real estate on the side? My plan to start out is to buy a house while I finish nursing school (15 months) and then purchase a new house when I have more income and rent out the first house. Then basically repeat the process every 1-2 years.
@James Wise
Jessie,
That sounds like a pretty solid plan to me. Many investors think they can quit their jobs to invest in real estate full time. Issue is that when they do this they don't have anything to invest. What they are really looking for is a job. If that is the goal I recommend that they obtain a real estate sales license.
If you are simply looking to invest capital your background sets you up for success. You can buy your 1st home using a VA loan then house hack from there. Nursing provides you with a flexible schedule to make repairs to your properties as well as strong W2'd income to utilize your 10 residential mortgages. In a few years time you could end up with a nice passive income stream from 10 leveraged properties.
If you are looking for even more involvement beyond that obtaining a real estate sales license would be a good supplemental income stream as well. Rubbing elbows with doctors all day is a great place for an agent to be.
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Bill Regan
Investor · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2015 · 160 posts · 76 votes
9y
I think you would be wise to take advantage of VA loan programs and find a small multi-family to house hack. This is a great first experience to get you used to dealing with real estate and tenants. Sounds like you will have a few days per week to work on sourcing new deals or networking. You'll be in good shape pretty soon!
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Jessie Nunley
OP
Springfield, MO · Member since 2017 · 158 posts · 114 votes
9y
@James Wise and @Bill Regan thank you both very much for the responses!
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Chris Purcell
Investor · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2010 · 739 posts · 372 votes
9y
@Jessie Nunley Why would your FT job get in the way of buying 1 house every 2 years?
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Jessie Nunley
OP
Springfield, MO · Member since 2017 · 158 posts · 114 votes
9y
@Chris Purcell my future job would influence all plans I would make. Would I make enough to support my family and desire to get into real estate? Would i have the flexibility to do real estate on the side? There's all sorts of variables that would change my future plans based off of my future job.
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Mike B.
Investor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2014 · 176 posts · 93 votes
9y
Buy your first house as owner-occupied with your VA loan. After at least 1-yr, when you're ready, you can buy a new house for your family to live in and rent, sell, or lease option your first house. Tons of little components to a variety of strategies with this, but that could be your general plan to get started. If you don't mind neighbors, maybe consider buying a 2-4 unit property first. You live in one unit for 1+ yrs and rent out the rest.
Now while you are living comfortably in your own home with your family, you have one real estate investment property (your first house) under your belt, and throughout the 1-yr++ time period you continue to educate yourself on various REI methods and continue to discuss the topic and work with other investors. Maybe you'll get lucky enough to wholesale a couple of contracts to bring in some extra cash (this is more work typically than it sounds like). By then you should be a bit more comfortable from the standpoint of knowledge, experience, and stable finances. By then you should have a strategy and plan in place for your next couple of properties. You can do this all on the side at your own pace with a full time job, and actually having steady employment is good for you when getting mortgages on property in the beginning. If you're a busy professional, you'll most likely pursue the path of buy and hold rentals, probably even turn-key rentals, or even more passive activity of just investing your money in REITs, Equity Funds, Notes, etc.
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Jessie Nunley
OP
Springfield, MO · Member since 2017 · 158 posts · 114 votes
9y
@Mike B. thank you for the advice!
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Jonathan Johnson
Rental Property Investor · Charleston, WV · Member since 2013 · 262 posts · 109 votes
9y
@Jessie Nunley Great plan! I would recommend purchasing a house every year with the VA-loan. I just finished purchasing a 4-unit Monday after having a SFH for a little over 2 years. You can refinance out of a VA loan and then use it again and again.
Note that each time you use it, the VA fee (which goes into the loan) goes up just a little.
Also, it takes a long time to find and eventually close on an investment house so always be on the lookout for a good deal.
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Jessie Nunley
OP
Springfield, MO · Member since 2017 · 158 posts · 114 votes
9y
@Jonathan Johnson thank you for the advice sir!
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