Investor · Sarasota, FL · Member since 2008 · 17k+ posts · 17k+ votes
15y
About 10-15 hours per week.
About half of that is focused on finding new deals, about a quarter is focused on rehabs that are underway, and about a quarter is focused on selling completed projects.
Full-Time Investor · Charlotte, NC · Member since 2009 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
15y
i'm in the same boat as jeffrey..i was gonna say at least 80 hours as well...i manage all my rentals, do most repairs, and GC the rehabs that i flip....it ain't all sunshine and rainbows :D
Landlord · Seattle, WA · Member since 2010 · 3k+ posts · 1k+ votes
15y
The amount of time I spend on RE varies during the year. There are times I easily put in 60 hrs a week and then there are times it is more like 10 hrs a week.
Haven't heard of to many real investors that get to sit by the phone and watch TV all day and can say they make a living at real estate. Might be one out there though.
Private Money Lender · Fontana, CA · Member since 2011 · 4 posts · 0 votes
15y
Although I am a commercial mortgage broker. I do invest in real estate also. I maybe spend about 2 hours a week but at the same time I'm only bought 2 last year which were apartments. But when I was investing full time in 2008-2009 I was spending about 60-70 hours a week
Contractor · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2008 · 978 posts · 985 votes
15y
My schedule is extremely cyclic. Okay, maybe "Manic" is more the correct term.
Some times I'm sitting around on my thumbs, going to every darn networking meeting there is because I'm waiting for a buyer to buy a rehab, or waiting on an architect to get done with plans. Times when the phone don't ring and I feel like nobody needs me.
These periods are offset by the rest of the year, when I'm frantically working my *** off and the phone won't stop ringing.
So during the down weeks, I might not get in 8 real hours of work.
During the busy weeks, I pretty well stop sleeping while I try and stay ahead of deadlines. (Right now is one of those times)... so easily 80+ hours. Easily.
The breakdown depends greatly. Right now I'm working a contract and overseeing the construction of a house. So probably 85% construction oversight and 15% contract attention.
When I'm in the search cycle, looking for my next deal, I spend days of boredom refreshing the MLS system and going to networking groups laughing at the poor deals being peddled there.
Followed by 5-6 straight hours of SHEER TOTAL PANDEMONIUM when a house hits the MLS, or I get a call for a promising lead, and I'm off to the races driving like a bat out of hell, gaining access, running projections, and making calls while writing offers in the driveway.
So in conclusion - there's definitely times when the job is boring and not a lot is happening. That's offset by the periods of time when I wish there were 3 of me.
Multifamily Investor · Toledo, OH · Member since 2008 · 296 posts · 308 votes
15y
I would guess 60 -70. How it breaks down is never the same, and I'm always "on".
On the flip side of things, right now I have 2 flips under contract for sale that are waiting to close, 3 flips for sale, and 1 flip in construction. I am trying to find more flips to buy. Inventory of good REO's is low right now, so I'm looking at just about anything. I put up several craigslist ads every day to advertise my for sale flips. Then there is answering phone calls and showing the houses. Then I have to work with the buyers and lender to see if we can get them qualified to buy.
On the rental side I have 1 vacancy which was filled yesterday. I have 2 more coming up next month. I went to eviction court last week (which accounts for 1 of next month's vacancies). I had 1 section 8 inspection last week and 2 more this week. Of course there are always service calls for rentals. I don't do my own work, but I do inspect most repairs before I pay the bill.
I am also trying to buy another apartment building right now, so I did go look at 2 buildings last week. That's worth a few hours right there.
With that said, none of it feels like work, in the cubicle jockey sense of the word. It feels more like I'm playing a game. It's not all fun, but it is all part of the process.
Lexington, KY · Member since 2009 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
15y
I work about 15 hours per week, this on top of my full time job (60-70) hours per week. The breakdown would look something like this:
40%- Accounting/business upkeep
30%- Project related (talking to contractors, planning rehabs, purchasing materials, etc)
20%- Looking for my next deal
10%- Reading/education
I am sure I left off some catagories but that is a very basic breakdown. I hope to be investing full time in about 1.5-2 years.
Investor · Sarasota, FL · Member since 2008 · 17k+ posts · 17k+ votes
15y
Originally posted by J Scott:
About 10-15 hours per week.
About half of that is focused on finding new deals, about a quarter is focused on rehabs that are underway, and about a quarter is focused on selling completed projects.
And just to clarify for those new to this business who might think it's easy to just work 10-15 hours/week and flip 10-15 houses per year...
The first year I did this business, I worked about 100 hours/week, and spent most of that time putting in places systems and processes that would allow me to mostly extract myself from the day-to-day aspects of the business. In addition, I have a full-time employee who is well-paid and can pick up most of the other 40-50 hours a week that I would otherwise be allocating to the business; of course, this ultimately impacts our bottom line having to pay salary and benefits.
So, while I only spend 10-15 hours, it took a lot of work to get to that point and I'm giving up some profit by having a full-time employee...
For me, this was a worthwhile tradeoff, as I have a couple other ventures that I spend some time on, and I just started a family that I like to devote some time to. If not for those things, I'd likely be in the 50 hour/week category...
Investor, Entrepreneur, Educator · Springfield, MO · Member since 2009 · 21k+ posts · 12k+ votes
15y
Do you love what you do? If you do you might work like I did, 18/7, but very seldom is it really work. The construction rehab gets into work, then landlording can be work (the worst at times) buying/selling/lending was not really work.
It's important to have family time and time away doing relaxing activities, as often as you can afford, but RE is something that like anything else, you always put it out there as to what it is that you do. So it's hardto say 80% of my time was marketing since that is something that should be a constant activity.
For me it was that the work got easier. When I began full time I was outside walking and talking. My last few years were in the office taking phone calls and making appointments. I only got out to preview properties, go to the courthouse and the bank.
My time was siilar to others I guess starting off. Depending on what I was doing,
Rehabs about 35 to 40% of my time was on site or in support of the project. 15% marketing and the rest devising the deal and getting it closed.
Flips witout touching them were about 70% marketing, 20% devising the deal and 10% coordinating closing.
Landlording seemed like 60% addressing maintenance and cleaning issues, 10% holding hands with tenants, 10% marketing and 20% administraive. While I kept properties long term I like this the least of all RE activities.
Lending was about 20% marketing and 10% document prep with 70% devising the right package.
Then, what I would call facilitating deals of all kinds and consultation, t was about 20% marketing, 60% devising the deal and 20% coordinating the project/closing.
I would go to the cabin at the lake. I'd be out on my boat and thanks to technology of the time (call forwarding, (LOL)), answer the phone as if I were in the officeand domy thing! Now that's the way to work!
When you get to 4 hours as mentioned by Josh, that's when you call yourself "retired", still in the game with one foot, but just having fun!
Real Estate Investor · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2009 · 339 posts · 126 votes
15y
I agree with Financexaminer, that just looking at the shear hours can be misleading. When you are into this full time and the food on the table depends on you selling that house or finding the next deal then you can work 80/week easy. But then again I found it so enjoyable that I was running my own business and that I could call my hours that those 80 hours felt VERY different than 80 hours of corporate grind. :roll:
Like most every one I agree that the hours can vary wildly. Probably the busiest is when doing 1 or 2 rehabs at a time. Even though I don't do any of the work and hire everything you still have to manage the crews, get materials, meet the inspector, shop around for floors, doors, fixtures and on and on.
Then once the rehab is done and house is in the market it could easily wind down to 10 hours per week of just following up with agents and marketing.
Certified Public Accountant · Chattanooga, TN · Member since 2008 · 279 posts · 151 votes
15y
I'm part time real estate, so my numbers are a little different than most that have responded. About 45 to 50 hours per week at corporate job. 15 to 20 hours per week on my real estate investing. The 15 to 20 hours doesn't feel like work though. One day, I'd like to go full time on real estate investing. I'm just slowly building up a portfolio to replace the corporate paycheck.
Developer · Santa Clarita, CA · Member since 2008 · 15k+ posts · 10k+ votes
15y
I am similar to Jason's schedule except that I am not down to 15-20 hours per week. When I first started, it was easily 80 hour work weeks. Now it is way down.
It is hard for me to say exactly as I spend lots of time just talking shop with other investors and friends, if that counts, then my hours are even higher as I can relate eating breakfast with RE. Since it is something I love so much (as Bill stated), I really dont count many of the hours as "Work". I do count hours spent at job sites, hours spent here on BP, hours spent getting and contracting deals and selling deals.
I too also have other ventures going and a family so my time each week is divided between all of that.
I am a control freak, or better explained "want a job done right, do it yourself" so I have yet to hire that assistant to date, but plan on it very soon. Like Jason, it will impact my bottom line initially, but over time, it will free up much of my time for my other venture as well as devoting more time to getting more deals and perhaps wholesaling more.
Thanks for the question/thread. This was a great conversation starter.
Real Estate Investor · Select a State · Member since 2010 · 79 posts · 17 votes
15y
I'm wholetailing full time. I'm spending about 1 hour a week placing ads, 10-15 hours a week following up on leads and making offers. Another 5-10 hours a week on sales related tasks and a whole lot of time just doing nothing and checking MLS every few hours. :) And 1 hour per month for accounting - scanning in the papers and emailing them to the accountant.
Real Estate Investor · Member since 2012 · 189 posts · 32 votes
13y
How much time do you put into your REI business? That's the question I've been pondering lately. I'm exploring a new career in RE as an investor. I've been evaluating my current resources, schedule, and limitations and trying to figure out how to maximize my time to get up to speed. In reviewing my goal setting, business planning, scheduling, and how I'm going to maximize my time in REI, I'm a bit frustrated with the timing of recreating myself/career and the recent turnaround in the r/e market. Just when I'm starting to feel ready/comfortable to ramp up in the flip market like it was 2010, the market resets like it's 2004!
Anyway, after counting (several times) the real hours I can devote to getting started in REI, I'm a li'l frustrated with how that compares to what others (i.e., Will Barnard & J Scott) have mentioned in how many hours they devoted when starting up. I tallied about 25hrs (max) per week vs. 80+ hrs above mentioned to startup! at my stage of life, kids/family are perty important and take up a good chunk of time.
haha..
I'm afraid when I finally do put in my equivalent hours, I'll miss the next uptrend cycle! ughh.. ok, enough complaining. I think what I really need is to take inventory and meticulously plan out my strategy working with what I have and who/what I need to grow from here to reach where I want to be.
Anyway, I think one of the best pieces of advice I've read from the forum is to really work backwards from where we want to be and figure out and do what we need to do to get there.
Here's to wishing an effective use of my 25hrs /wk to my new career!
so my long answer to the short question by the OP... 25hrs:
75% deal finding
25% networking
all while thinking in the mindset of systematizing, leveraging, and optimizing...
Developer · Santa Clarita, CA · Member since 2008 · 15k+ posts · 10k+ votes
13y
At the time of my last post in this thread (year 2011), I did not have any assistant or project manager. I do now and I still work 40+ hour weeks, but again, I don't count it all as work, I just love it too much. Most of the reason I still work more hours than say J Scott is the fact that I have multiple multi-million dollar projects that require me to be on the job site several times per week. In my mind, brother or not, there is no PM or assistant that I will let make million dollar decisions on, so I must be consulted and seek other professional consulting opinions on these items.
Much of my time is spent between job site visits, driving to and from, BP, acquisition searching (which includes driving to view potential deals - one of my FAVORITE things to do), deal analysis (math), and networking, raising funds, and paperwork.
Wholesaler · Salt Lake City, UT · Member since 2009 · 1k+ posts · 401 votes
13y
If your a real investor, agent or anything else, your one 24/7 because if you have trained yourself right you will have your radar going all the time.
I don't know the number of deals I wouldn't have had if I hadn't noticed something or overheard a remark or picked up on something during a conversation. So number of hours worked equals number of hours awake.