When is enough enough? How many homes does one need!?

Rental Property Investor · Larkspur, CO · Member since 2018 · 198 posts · 179 votes

Perhaps I have an inner socialist I’m not aware of, but I have to ask the community, when is enough enough as it pertains to number of units owned?

How often they ask on the podcasts “where are you going from here?” And the answer is something like “oh, we plan to have 500 doors” or 1500, or whatever. To me that qualifies as greed if I’m speaking honestly. Why on earth would you want so many units!? I can see it if they’re lower income apartments and/or you’re syndicating, bit that’s not what I’m talkig about here.

Another case in point; Invitation homes. 82,000 units they own and rent! Ridiculous.

The world would be a better place (I’d argue) if so many weren’t trying to commoditize or hoard everything. Honestly, that’s 20,500 families who could otherwise gain substantial financial stability through owning four rental properties each. I hate the concept of “fairness” and all that is embodied by socialism, but at some point this sort of behavior shoud fall under antitrust laws and be illegal. At some point I’d think that there’s a reasonable (high) standard of living and anything beyond that is just sheer excess. It’s as if we as a society don’t want a solid middle class. Why not step aside at some point and let the next guy have a little easier time of it? Seems the right mentality.

Is it just me???

18 Reply

667 views

Most Popular Reply

Anthony Dooley

Investor · Columbus, GA · Member since 2014 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes

@David S. if you feel that being very wealthy automatically makes someone greedy or evil, then it is highly unlikely that you will ever achieve wealth. So, you don't have to worry about how much is enough because you will stop sooner than later. For me, being very wealthy means security from evil and greed. I do not have to be a victim of someone else because wealth give me choices. If at some point I gain so much wealth that I cannot possibly spend it, then there isn't much else to do except give lots of money away. The super rich don't just give money to charity, they start charitable foundations. You will have a hard time finding wealthy people who don't give. You can't give what you don't have, so being poor is not more noble. Socialism only benefits the government, not the people.

47 Reply

See this reply in the discussion

184 Replies

Jump to latestLatest

Sort by

Joseph M.
Flipper/Rehabber · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2009 · 1k+ posts · 732 votes
8y
@George Pauley ,
If you buy a rental you aren't excluding someone else from being able to invest in real estate, it just means that particular house was taken off the market. Your competitor(s) lost out on that property because you bought it , but they'll be able to find another investment property elsewhere, maybe next door, a block over or in another city.
Also there are constantly new properties being built every day as well. There isn't really a cap on the number of properties /units available in America. Look at an area like Manhattan in NYC. It's been 'built out' for a long time , but there is still a lot of development and construction going on , it's just been getting denser.
Sometimes a whole city stops making sense for buy/hold investing , this is why we see a lot of people in high cost cities looking to invest in areas like the midwest because they can't cash flow in their cities. Sometimes a whole asset class gets super competitive and then investors look outside of it. Example multifamily cap rates have compressed and it's harder to find deals on apartment buildings today versus a few years ago or so because so many people want to own apartment buildings now. So now many investors are looking to sectors that are less 'hot' like self storage or mobile home parks where the returns make more sense.
I guess the point is the game is always changing but the opportunity never disappears. One just has to adapt to the changing environment and change their strategies.
2 Reply
Ian Kee
Investor · Milwaukee, WI · Member since 2015 · 130 posts · 60 votes
8y
To the OP, enough is enough when you want to stop growing your business and just enjoy life. I enjoy growing my business and get pleasure out of that, but at some point it'll be nice to not worry about that either. Whether that's 82,000 units or 500 I don't think makes much of a difference.
1 Reply
Luka Milicevic
Real Estate Agent · Nashville, TN · Member since 2015 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
8y
Originally posted by @Scott Trench:

Interesting Philosophy!
Suppose that Sarah and John both enter their adult lives making the same income, and work at the same job, right across from one another.
Suppose that Sarah spends her commute listening to the BiggerPockets Podcast, drives a 2000 Honda Civic, and buys first a house-hack, then a duplex, then 100 doors over 15 years.
Suppose that John drives a Lexus, listens to Taylor Swift while driving it, and buys a fancy home in a nice neighborhood.
After 15 years, Sarah builds a net worth of nearly $4M and $200,000 in her checking account.
John is worth $100,000, with $80,000 in home equity, $15,000 in his 401(k), and $5,000 in his checking account.
Sarah is a multimillionaire with 100 doors, and more cash flow than she even wants to spend.
John is living paycheck to paycheck and spends more to maintain his lifestyle than Sarah.
Who is greedy?
Should Sarah give John some of her money and support his lifestyle?
I believe that you'll be far more successful in your search for human greed by looking at individuals with moderately high incomes and little net worth than you will by examining the motivations of self-made millionaires who built their fortunes investing in real estate.
Wow!!! Fantastic response! Never thought about it that way.
0 Reply
Robert Burge
Real Estate Agent · Memphis TN · Member since 2013 · 8 posts · 0 votes
8y
Since you are feeling generous, quick claim me a couple of your properties :)
0 Reply
Shiva Bhaskar
Investor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2017 · 523 posts · 476 votes
8y
This is a very interesting question. I think David raised an important question.
As far as Invitation Homes and others, I suppose this is the nature of capitalism. If a company can grow and earn more, and has outside investors backing it, it has an obligation to do so. Obviously, there are limits to how one can go about this, but that's the mandate, in a sense.
But as to your question about families owning four properties each: The number of people who want to be landlords and are as crazy as we are to love this stuff, is relatively small. I am an attorney myself, and have plenty of friends and family, in my profession, as well as doctors, dentists etc. The number of these highly paid, educated folks who have the willingness to invest and spend time on real estate, is very small. They think it's not worth the trouble, they don't have the interest or confidence, tons of reasons. Same is true with lots of professionals, people who have the means to invest pretty well.
Also, I think when it comes to scaling up, everyone has their own desires. I'd like to own several hundred doors at least within the next few decades, because I enjoy the challenge of finding and putting together a deal, making things work, and yes, because of the money. I'm also very into charitable and non profit work, and would love to put my money towards helping people and supporting things I care about. There are huge landlords who donate millions of dollars to help institutions they care about, in fact, I'd venture to say most of the rich folks give quite a bit charitably.
But I also know other folks who want a few properties to retire with, or simply to quite their job and live well off rental income and maybe something else....there are tons of personal preferences and goals, and I don't think any are right or wrong. I have a friend whose dad owns quite a few properties (at least several million a year in rental income, probably more), and could buy plenty more, but would rather travel and spend time with his grand kids. I'm sure some of his peers who are still out there chasing deals think he's crazy, but hey, it works for him. They are individual choices, and we have to make the right choices for ourselves and our families, by being self aware.
1 Reply
JD MartinBusiness Member
Moderator
Rock Star Extraordinaire · Northeast, TN · Member since 2015 · 10k+ posts · 16k+ votes
8y
Personally, I love that the OP questions the paradigm. I tell everyone that they should question everything and everyone, including themselves. Only through curiosity and inquisitiveness can one learn and grow as a person, much less as an investor. I am less disturbed by the OP wondering "When is enough enough" than I am by the bevy of people that essentially say "shut up and keep buying". You don't have to agree with the premise of the thread to see the value in constantly examining your goals, motives, and purpose. In fact, the investor that is not doing this will be more likely to lose his shirt in the long run than s/he who is willing to reject dogmatism and consider the possibility that the facts and values once held have changed or need to change.
I admire his willingness to broach the subject, especially swimming around in the middle of the shark tank. I don't feel that the simple accumulation of wealth or properties makes one greedy but I do think that the life unexamined is scarcely worth living, to paraphrase the great Socrates. :)
Podcast Guest on Show #243
Skyline Properties
View Page
8 Reply
David S.
OP
Rental Property Investor · Larkspur, CO · Member since 2018 · 198 posts · 179 votes
8y
Originally posted by @JD Martin:

Personally, I love that the OP questions the paradigm. I tell everyone that they should question everything and everyone, including themselves. Only through curiosity and inquisitiveness can one learn and grow as a person, much less as an investor. I am less disturbed by the OP wondering "When is enough enough" than I am by the bevy of people that essentially say "shut up and keep buying". You don't have to agree with the premise of the thread to see the value in constantly examining your goals, motives, and purpose. In fact, the investor that is not doing this will be more likely to lose his shirt in the long run than s/he who is willing to reject dogmatism and consider the possibility that the facts and values once held have changed or need to change.
I admire his willingness to broach the subject, especially swimming around in the middle of the shark tank. I don't feel that the simple accumulation of wealth or properties makes one greedy but I do think that the life unexamined is scarcely worth living, to paraphrase the great Socrates. :)
Personally I'm starting to get tired of swimming in the shark tank! I posted a follow up and a clarification but of course it got drowned out by other new threads. Oh well. Think I'm done responding on this one; it'll die out sooner or later (I think...).
1 Reply
Michael Kiley
Real Estate Agent · Cleveland, OH · Member since 2017 · 184 posts · 253 votes
8y
@JD Martin One of the best comments on this post. Question everything.
2 Reply
David S.
OP
Rental Property Investor · Larkspur, CO · Member since 2018 · 198 posts · 179 votes
8y
Originally posted by @Scott Trench:

Interesting Philosophy!
Suppose that Sarah and John both enter their adult lives making the same income, and work at the same job, right across from one another.
Suppose that Sarah spends her commute listening to the BiggerPockets Podcast, drives a 2000 Honda Civic, and buys first a house-hack, then a duplex, then 100 doors over 15 years.
Suppose that John drives a Lexus, listens to Taylor Swift while driving it, and buys a fancy home in a nice neighborhood.
After 15 years, Sarah builds a net worth of nearly $4M and $200,000 in her checking account.
John is worth $100,000, with $80,000 in home equity, $15,000 in his 401(k), and $5,000 in his checking account.
Sarah is a multimillionaire with 100 doors, and more cash flow than she even wants to spend.
John is living paycheck to paycheck and spends more to maintain his lifestyle than Sarah.
Who is greedy?
Should Sarah give John some of her money and support his lifestyle?
I believe that you'll be far more successful in your search for human greed by looking at individuals with moderately high incomes and little net worth than you will by examining the motivations of self-made millionaires who built their fortunes investing in real estate.
I fully agree Scott and posted an update/clarification of my mindset behind the original post to clarify it a bit better (on a new thread, also titled "when is enough enough"). Little did I know I was touching a sacred cow or I would have spent some more time articulating my motivation a bit better on the original post, though no regrets, this has been quite enjoyable and enlightening regardless. I've actually seen your very example between myself and my last renters; I was perceived as Mr Moneybags while they made twice the income and had nothing to show for it while renting my home from me. I put my rental up for sale and put a lot of work into listing it, ended up with well over asking price. They moved to a more expensive rental and literally dropped around $10k in the process of moving to have everything done and because they went under lease on two different homes, having found one they wanted more than the first... needless to say that first security deposit was gone!
Anyway, my heart is indeed that people check their motives carefully as well as reexamine their priorities. I feel, even after reading almost every post on this thread, that we the BP community underestimate the human condition that is greed. Now let's not forget we ARE on a site called Bigger Pockets; there's going to be a natural bias here relative to the societal mean. I think we're doing ourselves a disservice by thinking of greed only as the Bernie Madoff's of this world or the celebrities of this world who blow it all like Johnny Depp. You want to know who else is a greedy person? I am. I recognize it in myself but I exercise self control. Nobody would call me greedy, but I want want want just like the next person. We almost all want the nicer car, and once that one wears off we tend to want the nicer one yet, doesn't mean we all buy it, but most of us certainly want it. I think it's a lot easier to hide that side of us when it's an investment or asset we're buying rather than a liability. It's easy to label it as noble and wise but I believe many times there's a greed that belies it if we're being honest with ourselves. I know most will disagree, that's fine. I don't ascribe a high standard to the human condition (obviously) which is probably what has me on the defensive.
All that said, I think a good benchmark of our motives is how much time we spend building wealth opposed to spending time with friends and family, volunteering, seeking the true meaning of life rather than blowing off that important question, etc. Money really doesn't make happy but man can it easily fool us.
2 Reply
David S.
OP
Rental Property Investor · Larkspur, CO · Member since 2018 · 198 posts · 179 votes
8y
With this, I'm out! You guys hang around as long as you'd like ;)
0 Reply
Kyle Godbout
Investor · Omaha, NE · Member since 2015 · 366 posts · 184 votes
8y
9.8267 Homes.
0 Reply
Max Briggs
Rental Property Investor · Cleveland Heights, OH · Member since 2017 · 54 posts · 32 votes
8y
Well... as for whether you're a closeted Socialist or not, I'm not sure. But one of the beauties of capitalism is that it has a natural flow of resources from the inefficient to the efficient and efficiency does have a societal benefit. If a large company has systems, teams, and processes that allow them to offer more on purchases, while offering less on rent, and still make a profit, thus putting me out of business, that's actually a good thing for everyone except me and it provides overall societal benefit. However, capitalism without any regulation can certainly lead to inefficient markets through monopolies and oligopolies. For example efficient markets require some things like ease of entry into markets, which large companies can sometimes prevent. If a large company is so large that they control what the market rental rates are they can temporarily lower rents to drive competition out, buy their assets, then raise rents to inefficiently high prices. Alternatively, they could try to sway the regulatory environment that makes it difficult for small businesses to compete by increasing the cost of entry into the market. So... I never fault someone for trying to grow. If you believe that what you are doing provides a societal benefit you absolutely should try to grow, and I don't perceive it as greed. However, if the goal of your growing is to drive out all competition in an effort to eventually be able to profit in a way that efficient markets wouldn't allow, I'd say that's bad and needs to be regulated.
0 Reply
Jessica G.
Investor · Dallas, TX · Member since 2014 · 177 posts · 213 votes
8y
Definitely an interesting discussion David!
0 Reply
Account Closed
Property Manager · Baton Rouge, LA · Member since 2014 · 2k+ posts · 195 votes
8y
As I read opinions here, reminds me of what really makes the USA great. We have a choice. Reach for the sky but, remember the higher you reach, one day may be the greater the fall. "Pigs get fat, hogs get the knife first" in the market place. I like being a pig. My choice.
1 Reply
Sierra Crisp
Rental Property Investor · los Angeles, CA · Member since 2017 · 47 posts · 32 votes
8y
@David Smit you ask if these rich people should step aside to make room for the next guy? No one is stopping the next guy. The great thing about where we live is that you don’t need someone’s permission to succeed. Wealth is gained by action, planning, and Work. There is no wealthy person who will step aside and let you walk the path they have already paved. The key to true wealth is overcoming the struggle of paving your own. Most people who are truly wealthy find joy in what they do, otherwise they would not be so successful at it.
1 Reply
Andrew Crawford
Richmond Hill, GA · Member since 2018 · 1 post · 2 votes
8y
@David Smit If you can reason someone into your way of thinking I wouldn’t have a problem, but you can’t. You would ask the Federal Government to, at the point of a gun, impose someone else’s view on the subject.
2 Reply
Cody L.
Rental Property Investor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
8y
"need"? I "need" one to live in.
I might "need" a few more to cover my basic living costs to keep my roof over my head and provide enough food to stay alive
I might "need" a few more to have an actual enjoyable life above just staying alive
I might "need" yet a few more to be what one might consider successful
I can tell you everyone has their own GOALS and WANTS. My goal keeps going up. Each time I reach my goal, I move the posts. It was 500 units. Then 1000 units. Now $1m/month in rent roll. After that I don't know. But as long as I'm having fun doing it, and can keep making money and growing my net worth, why would you ever stop?
0 Reply
Cody L.
Rental Property Investor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
8y
Originally posted by @Will Karstetter:

Setting artificial goals based on the number of doors a person owns is a recipe for unfulfillment. Goals should be based on cashflow or net worth. I hate the idea of romanticizing the idea of someone owning a large number of units or doors when someone else could own half as much, make more money, and have a less demanding workweek.
To address your point, no I do not fault investors for exploiting their full potential. Instead we should applaud and study these companies / investors who have managed to build such great portfolios (again going back to number of doors). We can learn a lot from them and one day become like them - if that is your goal. If not, reach your goal and be happy with what you have accomplished.
I used to focus on doors as that's what I feel comfortable talking about when people ask what I do, or how many properties I have. I don't want to get into cash flow with people as that's a bit personal. I'll tell someone I have 1000 doors but I'm not going to tell them how that manifests to income.
1 Reply
Jay HinrichsBusiness Member
Real Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes
8y
Originally posted by @Cody L.:

Originally posted by @Will Karstetter:
Setting artificial goals based on the number of doors a person owns is a recipe for unfulfillment. Goals should be based on cashflow or net worth. I hate the idea of romanticizing the idea of someone owning a large number of units or doors when someone else could own half as much, make more money, and have a less demanding workweek.
To address your point, no I do not fault investors for exploiting their full potential. Instead we should applaud and study these companies / investors who have managed to build such great portfolios (again going back to number of doors). We can learn a lot from them and one day become like them - if that is your goal. If not, reach your goal and be happy with what you have accomplished.
I used to focus on doors as that's what I feel comfortable talking about when people ask what I do, or how many properties I have. I don't want to get into cash flow with people as that's a bit personal. I'll tell someone I have 1000 doors but I'm not going to tell them how that manifests to income.
well we can put two and two together that's probably at least 10k a month :)
Podcast Guest on Show #222
JLH Capital Partners51 Review
Website View Page
1 Reply
Will Karstetter
Rental Property Investor · Tulsa, OK · Member since 2017 · 41 posts · 34 votes
8y
Originally posted by @Jay Hinrichs:

Originally posted by @Cody L.:
Originally posted by @Will Karstetter:

Setting artificial goals based on the number of doors a person owns is a recipe for unfulfillment. Goals should be based on cashflow or net worth. I hate the idea of romanticizing the idea of someone owning a large number of units or doors when someone else could own half as much, make more money, and have a less demanding workweek.
To address your point, no I do not fault investors for exploiting their full potential. Instead we should applaud and study these companies / investors who have managed to build such great portfolios (again going back to number of doors). We can learn a lot from them and one day become like them - if that is your goal. If not, reach your goal and be happy with what you have accomplished.
I used to focus on doors as that's what I feel comfortable talking about when people ask what I do, or how many properties I have. I don't want to get into cash flow with people as that's a bit personal. I'll tell someone I have 1000 doors but I'm not going to tell them how that manifests to income.
well we can put two and two together that's probably at least 10k a month :)
@Cody L I certainly understand your point. Income can be private; however, from my experience when you tell someone who does not understand RE investing that you own 20 homes, they will assume you're making way more than you really are. Think we are circling around the fact that it will entirely depend on who you're talking with.
1 Reply
Rhonda Wilson
Rental Property Investor · Tacoma, WA · Member since 2018 · 113 posts · 149 votes
8y
I think that it is important to differentiate between greed and ambition. If someone can offer a better word than "ambition", please do. Greed implies that a person's desire for material gain is excessive. How do we measure excess? It is excessive when that desire outweighs other virtues such as fairness, justice or social responsibilities such as spending time with family and friends. Greed doesn't happen at some fixed dollar amount like $10 million or 100 properties. It happens when a person's greed drives them to cheat another person no matter what the amount. Or, when they completely neglect their family in order to earn well beyond any reasonable need. Suppose two people are to split a bill at a restaurant. One person says "You owe $X and I owe $Y" basing the calculation on a dishonest accounting of the bill. Even if the amount that they are cheating the other person is $1, this is greed. It is an example of putting the desire for material gain ahead of justice, honesty and fairness. Suppose a professional asks for a 10% raise on top of their current $150k per year salary. Is this greed if the professional knows that they could get the higher salary by quitting and taking a job down the road? These examples are intended to illustrate that greed is not a function of scale, it is a result of perverse or unbalanced values.
The antithesis of greed is generosity or fairness. The opposite of ambition is laziness or apathy. They are quite different things. Indeed, a person can be both lazy and greedy. However, one isn't lazy and ambitious at the same time.
Remember, "greed" is one of the seven deadly sins of Christian tradition. Whether one is religious or not, the word refers to a specific, negative, human behavior that in our culture, is antithetical to virtue.
@David S. I think that the problem that I'm having with your arguments is that you keep coming back to that word "greed" with a working assumption that beyond X amount, the only possible motivation for continuing is greed. I don't accept that assumption.
0 Reply
Jay HinrichsBusiness Member
Real Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes
8y
Originally posted by @Will Karstetter:

Originally posted by @Jay Hinrichs:
Originally posted by @Cody L.:

Originally posted by @Will Karstetter:
Setting artificial goals based on the number of doors a person owns is a recipe for unfulfillment. Goals should be based on cashflow or net worth. I hate the idea of romanticizing the idea of someone owning a large number of units or doors when someone else could own half as much, make more money, and have a less demanding workweek.
To address your point, no I do not fault investors for exploiting their full potential. Instead we should applaud and study these companies / investors who have managed to build such great portfolios (again going back to number of doors). We can learn a lot from them and one day become like them - if that is your goal. If not, reach your goal and be happy with what you have accomplished.
I used to focus on doors as that's what I feel comfortable talking about when people ask what I do, or how many properties I have. I don't want to get into cash flow with people as that's a bit personal. I'll tell someone I have 1000 doors but I'm not going to tell them how that manifests to income.
well we can put two and two together that's probably at least 10k a month :)
@Cody L I certainly understand your point. Income can be private; however, from my experience when you tell someone who does not understand RE investing that you own 20 homes, they will assume you're making way more than you really are. Think we are circling around the fact that it will entirely depend on who you're talking with.
and of course how much debt you have.. one of my partners has 100 doors here in PDX but they are all free and clear.. so that's 13 million in value with no risk.. and cash flow of course is pretty decent when you don't have debt service..
But I think the major play with someone like Cody is the massive depreciation he can take on so many doors and suspect little to no tax liability..
Podcast Guest on Show #222
JLH Capital Partners51 Review
Website View Page
1 Reply
Account Closed
Realtor · Detroit, MI · Member since 2015 · 211 posts · 104 votes
8y
First, this is by far the best thread I have seen on BP. Thanks @DavidSmit for starting this. I respect everyones outlook on this topic even If I don't agree, I LOVE looking at others perspectives. 2nd-If someone owns 82K units that is great for them, how do they treat their employees, are their tenants happy? Real Estate is money driven so finally we can all put the BS to bed, yes this is about the money. Should some legality come into play? Yes I think that's the way to solve it right? Our good old Justice system should agree; again case and point is system. A system doesn't care about greed or fairness, a system cares about production even if it's at the demise of a people. So in close people are going to do what they want and each investor as an individual or corporation has a choice on how they want to operate their business #choosewisely
0 Reply
Will Karstetter
Rental Property Investor · Tulsa, OK · Member since 2017 · 41 posts · 34 votes
8y
Originally posted by @Jay Hinrichs:

Originally posted by @Will Karstetter:
Originally posted by @Jay Hinrichs:

Originally posted by @Cody L.:
Originally posted by @Will Karstetter:

Setting artificial goals based on the number of doors a person owns is a recipe for unfulfillment. Goals should be based on cashflow or net worth. I hate the idea of romanticizing the idea of someone owning a large number of units or doors when someone else could own half as much, make more money, and have a less demanding workweek.
To address your point, no I do not fault investors for exploiting their full potential. Instead we should applaud and study these companies / investors who have managed to build such great portfolios (again going back to number of doors). We can learn a lot from them and one day become like them - if that is your goal. If not, reach your goal and be happy with what you have accomplished.
I used to focus on doors as that's what I feel comfortable talking about when people ask what I do, or how many properties I have. I don't want to get into cash flow with people as that's a bit personal. I'll tell someone I have 1000 doors but I'm not going to tell them how that manifests to income.
well we can put two and two together that's probably at least 10k a month :)
@Cody L I certainly understand your point. Income can be private; however, from my experience when you tell someone who does not understand RE investing that you own 20 homes, they will assume you're making way more than you really are. Think we are circling around the fact that it will entirely depend on who you're talking with.
and of course how much debt you have.. one of my partners has 100 doors here in PDX but they are all free and clear.. so that's 13 million in value with no risk.. and cash flow of course is pretty decent when you don't have debt service..
But I think the major play with someone like Cody is the massive depreciation he can take on so many doors and suspect little to no tax liability..
All very good points! Really enjoyed your podcast btw
1 Reply
Cody L.
Rental Property Investor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
8y
Originally posted by @Will Karstetter:

Originally posted by @Jay Hinrichs:
Originally posted by @Cody L.:

Originally posted by @Will Karstetter:
Setting artificial goals based on the number of doors a person owns is a recipe for unfulfillment.  Goals should be based on cashflow or net worth. I hate the idea of romanticizing the idea of someone owning a large number of units or doors when someone else could own half as much, make more money, and have a less demanding workweek.
To address your point, no I do not fault investors for exploiting their full potential. Instead we should applaud and study these companies / investors who have managed to build such great portfolios (again going back to number of doors). We can learn a lot from them and one day become like them - if that is your goal. If not, reach your goal and be happy with what you have accomplished.
I used to focus on doors as that's what I feel comfortable talking about when people ask what I do, or how many properties I have. I don't want to get into cash flow with people as that's a bit personal. I'll tell someone I have 1000 doors but I'm not going to tell them how that manifests to income.
well we can put two and two together that's probably at least 10k a month :)
@Cody L I certainly understand your point. Income can be private; however, from my experience when you tell someone who does not understand RE investing that you own 20 homes, they will assume you're making way more than you really are. Think we are circling around the fact that it will entirely depend on who you're talking with.
Fair enough. But I'm still okay with telling people how many units I have but not how much I make.
0 Reply

Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.