"No one else here is stupid enough to have your job"

The title of this post is an actual comment made by one of my co-workers yesterday. Well, that's not exactly true. It was made by one of my employees. If you're thinking that comments like that aren't a good way to win your bosses favor, you're right, but this particular person happens to be my top property manager, and I consider her a good friend, so she gets away with more than the average subordinate worker. Still, it did strike a chord, and if I’m completely honest, it hurt my feelings a little. OK, a lot. I mean, think about it…over the past six years I hired a staff of professionals, many of whom I trained, and now I discover that their view of me is, well, a bit unflattering. The conversation, though brief, was sobering, humbling, and thought-provoking.

The competitive side of me would like to brush this off as evidence that everyone just isn’t driven for success at the same level or in the same way. You know, we aren’t all “wired” to set goals and put processes in place to achieve company objectives that will increase profit and productivity (yes, I’ve read so many books on success in business, that I can speak like one).

But if that were the case, why did I start buying my own residential rental properties instead of just being content with managing office portfolios for others? Surely I work enough hours at my day job that I wasn't merely looking for more real estate activity to fill my time. Deep inside I know the benefits of what I do at my job aren’t always worth the efforts that are required. And frankly making more money for someone else than you do for yourself isn’t that gratifying at times. In fact, it can be downright discouraging if you let yourself think about it too much.

Owning residential rentals was something I wanted to do for many years, but like most wanna-be investors, I always had a reason not to move forward at every stage in life. A lack of money to invest, a husband with a conservative mind-set, a good-paying job and a 401K so the risk didn’t seem necessary.

Like many first-time investors, I moved into a new home and decided that rather than sell my primary residence, I’d rent it and see how it went. It sounds easy, but when you’re signing a mortgage note for a new home knowing that it could very well be far less if you sold the house you were living in…well, let’s just say that I view debt as the enemy, which made my new primary residence feel like less of a friend. I told myself I could always sell and refinance the new home if it didn’t work out. In hindsight, I was so risk-averse that I wonder how my body ever produced a single drop of adrenaline before 2016. But that’s another blog.

Fast forward twenty months. I now own five single family rental homes, and one multi-family unit. The challenge and adventure for me has been in identifying properties that produce good returns in this hot midwest market. When I tell people what my ROI is, most are skeptical. Some ask how to do it, and others tell me why it’s not possible. I always direct them to BiggerPockets!

So maybe no one else in the company is stupid enough to do what I do, but taking what I’ve learned and earned at my job and using it to create passive income and wealth through my own real estate investing seems smart to me.