The Numbers - How Passive Investing Enabled Me to Quit

The Numbers - How Passive Investing Enabled Me to Quit

Rental Property Investor · New York City · Member since 2014 · 208 posts · 271 votes

The response to my post last week about quitting my job has been overwhelming.  "How did you do it?" is the question that everyone is asking me, so I thought that I would just answer it here.  It started with writing a check.  Taking action.  Here is how the rest of the process works for me.

Here are two deals that have been full cycle, and how they ended up. (I have others that we are holding longer, bought later, etc.)

In round numbers, this is why KEEP MORE is my motto:
2016 - took $140K out of the stock market and invested in two passive multifamily deals.  Received monthly income of around $1,000 for the next two years, of which ALL TAXES were deferred.

Roughly two years and change later we liquidated them around the same time. I walked away with an additional $37,000 in my pocket.  Total cash = $60,000 OR $30,000 in annual income. ALL TAX DEFERRED.

My principal has now grown to around $170,000. I roll it into another deal and now my monthly income should be around $1300 - $1500 monthly - TAX DEFERRED.

$140K investment - $30K annual tax free income – $30K added to principal. Rinse and repeat.

Over the last 5 years, I've slowly moved some of my savings out of the stock market and into passive multifamily deals. Now I have enough cash flow to live on.  

Mileage varies, but it sure beats dealing with plumbers, and mortgages, and bills, and tenants....on and on. Best of all, I've LEARNED this, and now I get to share the wealth with others who are sick and tired of working like a dog and paying ridiculous taxes.

There are so many great people on Biggerpockets that know this too, and they've changed my life by sharing these opportunities with people like me.  It's not too good to be true.  It's just that your financial advisor won't tell you, your 401K custodian won't tell you, and the very rich keep it largely to themselves.

And that's my truth in a nutshell, and I am grateful beyond words.

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Yonah WeissPro Member
Cost Segregation Expert and Investor · Lakewood, NJ · Member since 2017 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
7y
Originally posted by @Gerhard Listander:

I read your other post and it was definitely inspiring. I've turned my investing strategy towards the syndication route for some real passive income. My only problem is I'm currently a non-accredited investor and can't seem to find anything other than online crowd funding sites that use a private REIT fund for investing. I was wondering are you an accredited investor or did you happen to find a really good non website form of sponsor/syndication? Thanks for all the info.

Not being an accredited investor will not stop you from investing in many syndicated deals. But make sure you speak to the sponsors and a lawyer, to know which ones. A great way to start is reaching out to syndicators, and meeting them, and developing a relationship before investing in their deals, that may allow you to bypass the accredited requirement in some deals. There are many here on BP...and the keywords have been activated, so you'll probably see them chime in shortly :)

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  • Member since 2018 · 14 posts · 4 votes
    7y

    @Holly Williams Congrats! 

    Could you explain more how you invested passively: 

    - Was it in a syndicated deal or via crowdfunding websites? 

    - Was it debt or equity? 

    - That looks like 8.6% annual income, plus you got 26% in capital gains ($36k) -- what were deal terms, what was guaranteed etc? 

    - Why is the annual income tax deferred? And when do you need to pay taxes on it?

    Thanks!!

  • Rental Property Investor · New York City · Member since 2014 · 208 posts · 271 votes
    7y

    Syndicated, equity.  Nothing in life is guaranteed.  :-)  Income was tax deferred because depreciation, expenses, etc. were written off against the income resulting in a  paper loss.  Upon liquidation, I rolled over everything into another deal and so I should have a raise now.    

    PM me and I'm happy to discuss further if you'd like.

  • Rental Property Investor · New York City · Member since 2014 · 208 posts · 271 votes
    7y

    Syndicated, equity.  Nothing in life is guaranteed.  :-)  Income was tax deferred because depreciation, expenses, etc. were written off against the income resulting in a  paper loss.  Upon liquidation, I rolled over everything into another deal via a 1031 and so I should have a raise now while continue to defer taxes.  I also have an excess of paper losses that I can use again other passive income.  

    PM me and I'm happy to discuss further if you'd like.

  • Winthrop Harbor, IL · Member since 2015 · 28 posts · 15 votes
    7y

    I read your other post and it was definitely inspiring. I've turned my investing strategy towards the syndication route for some real passive income. My only problem is I'm currently a non-accredited investor and can't seem to find anything other than online crowd funding sites that use a private REIT fund for investing. I was wondering are you an accredited investor or did you happen to find a really good non website form of sponsor/syndication? Thanks for all the info.

  • Yonah WeissPro Member
    Cost Segregation Expert and Investor · Lakewood, NJ · Member since 2017 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    7y
    Originally posted by @Gerhard Listander:

    I read your other post and it was definitely inspiring. I've turned my investing strategy towards the syndication route for some real passive income. My only problem is I'm currently a non-accredited investor and can't seem to find anything other than online crowd funding sites that use a private REIT fund for investing. I was wondering are you an accredited investor or did you happen to find a really good non website form of sponsor/syndication? Thanks for all the info.

    Not being an accredited investor will not stop you from investing in many syndicated deals. But make sure you speak to the sponsors and a lawyer, to know which ones. A great way to start is reaching out to syndicators, and meeting them, and developing a relationship before investing in their deals, that may allow you to bypass the accredited requirement in some deals. There are many here on BP...and the keywords have been activated, so you'll probably see them chime in shortly :)

  • Rental Property Investor · Glen Rock, NJ · Member since 2015 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    7y
    Gerhard,

    Holly's story is very inspiring and there are always more opportunities for accredited investors, but it doesn't mean that the opportunities for non-accredited (aka sophisticated) investors don't exist. One just needs to work harder to find them.

    Another food for thought for you: why don't you look into the requirements for accreditation and determine what steps would you need to take to become accredited?!

    Best!

    Originally posted by @Gerhard Listander:

    I read your other post and it was definitely inspiring. I've turned my investing strategy towards the syndication route for some real passive income. My only problem is I'm currently a non-accredited investor and can't seem to find anything other than online crowd funding sites that use a private REIT fund for investing. I was wondering are you an accredited investor or did you happen to find a really good non website form of sponsor/syndication? Thanks for all the info.

  • Rental Property Investor · Dallas, TX · Member since 2017 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    7y
    Originally posted by @Gerhard Listander:

    I read your other post and it was definitely inspiring. I've turned my investing strategy towards the syndication route for some real passive income. My only problem is I'm currently a non-accredited investor and can't seem to find anything other than online crowd funding sites that use a private REIT fund for investing. I was wondering are you an accredited investor or did you happen to find a really good non website form of sponsor/syndication? Thanks for all the info.

    Most sponsors have spots for sophisticated (but non-accredited) investors. These are usually given to folks whom they want to develop a long-term relationship with. Best bet: Develop that relationship, follow up and follow up again, assess them to see if they are a good fit and go from there.

  • Investor · Pleasanton, CA · Member since 2015 · 28 posts · 11 votes
    7y

    It is true that a lot of these syndicated deals are for accredited investors only, but there are definitely deals out there if you look hard enough, where they do bring in non-accredited or sophisticated investors, but depending on how the deal is structured, they are typically limited to 35 sophisticated investors. 

  • Rental Property Investor · Los Angeles · Member since 2018 · 844 posts · 1k+ votes
    7y
    Originally posted by @Holly Williams:

    Syndicated, equity.  Nothing in life is guaranteed.  :-)  Income was tax deferred because depreciation, expenses, etc. were written off against the income resulting in a  paper loss.  Upon liquidation, I rolled over everything into another deal via a 1031 and so I should have a raise now while continue to defer taxes.  I also have an excess of paper losses that I can use again other passive income.  

    PM me and I'm happy to discuss further if you'd like.

    Upon the payout of your syndicated deal, you exchanged via 1031 into another syndicated deal? Was this generally performed by the sponsor?

  • Rental Property Investor · New York City · Member since 2014 · 208 posts · 271 votes
    7y

    @Gerhard Listander I'm accredited, but there are some syndications that accept non-accredited investors.  Feel free to PM me and I can share some options and make an introduction or two.  

  • Rental Property Investor · New York City · Member since 2014 · 208 posts · 271 votes
    7y

    @Gerhard Listander I'm accredited, but there are some syndications that accept non-accredited investors.  Feel free to PM me and I can share some options and make an introduction or two.  

  • Rental Property Investor · New York City · Member since 2014 · 208 posts · 271 votes
    7y

    @Tony Kim  Yes.  The sponsor.  I think that it has to be done as an entity. (Not positive, but I'm pretty sure.  Someone chime in if I'm wrong.) 

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