My wife and I are currently active duty military and are planning our transition to civilian life within the next 24–36 months. Our goal is to shift into real estate investment full-time once we hang up the uniform.
We’ve spent our time in building a solid foundation and are looking to connect with mentors or peers who have successfully made the jump from a W-2 to full-time investing.
Our Current Position:
Portfolio: 8 investment properties (mix of single family and multi family)
Personal Financials: Debt-free (zero consumer debt, no student loans, no car payments).
Timeline: 2–3 years until separation.
We’d love to learn from those who have "been there, done that," specifically regarding making the leap from the W2 world to the RE world.
The transition can be done, but I would plan VERY carefully.
The biggest weakness I see in your plan is that you are playing in the non-commercial space. To get agency debt you are going to have to show sufficient income to qualify. Even if you go the DSCR route, they like to see that you can pay the loan if there are troubles. In other words, you better be very sure that your properties are kicking off enough cash so you have a strong enough income to keep growing and qualifying for new loans.
I propose two alternatives as a hedge. The obvious one is to avoid having zero W2 income. If one of you quits or you both go part time, that could make a huge difference. The other option is to get into commercial real estate, apartments, industrial, etc. What you know from managing your current portfolio has some cross-over but they are different beasts. If you want to go that route, I would start educating yourself now.