All Forum Posts by: James Ryan

Hey @Wendy Stapleton I messaged you the contact info for the contractor. I hope this helps!

Thank you @Scott Trench, @Jay Hinrichs, and everyone else who responded—I really appreciate all the input!

To give a little more context: I typically have about 20 employees working for me, with staffing ramping up in the summer and scaling down in the winter. Managing everyone in the field has become increasingly challenging, and with my wife and I planning to start a family soon, I'm hoping to cut back my hours. Unfortunately, that’s proving difficult with how things are currently structured.

The good news is that we both have strong incomes, and if we keep our expenses in check, we should be able to purchase a new property each year—valued around $250K—using cash. My plan is to buy the first few properties outright to minimize risk and get hands-on experience. I intend to self-manage the first 2–4 rentals to learn the ropes before transitioning to a property manager.

From what I’ve gathered, once your systems are dialed in, managing rentals can be fairly light on a week-to-week basis. That said, to maintain a more full-time workload (30+ hours per week) and potentially step away from my electrical contracting business, I may need to supplement with a few flips each year. Either way, I understand this is a 5+ year transition and not something that happens overnight. In hindsight, my post title about going “full time” early on in real estate might’ve been a bit misleading.

Right now, I’m in the middle of a light rehab on my first property purchased specifically as a rental, and I’m excited to get it stabilized. I'm treating this first deal as a launchpad to build from.

I like to plan ahead and set clear goals, and I truly believe that building a rental portfolio will give us a strong foundation and income safety net for the future.

I recently purchased a property in Greenville, SC. Due to scheduling and travel constraints, I wasn’t able to walk the property in person before making an offer. Instead, my agent did a walkthrough via FaceTime.

During the home inspection, the inspector discovered the top of an underground storage tank (UST) on the property. I’m originally from New Jersey, where USTs are a serious concern—especially when it comes to financing. While I never personally owned property in NJ, I had several friends run into issues with mortgage lenders after a UST was found on a property.

Given that background, I wanted to share my experience here in South Carolina in case it helps others in a similar situation.

After the discovery, I contacted a few companies that specialize in UST removal and soil contamination testing. The initial quote I received was $1,700 to:

• Pump and dispose of 80 gallons of oil

• Cut open the top of the tank

• Fill the tank with sand

• Cap it with concrete

For an additional $300, they offered full tank removal—which I chose to do for a total of $2,000. There was some risk of encountering contaminated soil, but I decided I’d rather find out now than deal with a hidden issue later.

The contractor estimated that a typical soil cleanup—if contamination is found—usually runs between $2,000–$3,000. Fortunately, in my case, the soil was clean.

The removal process was very straightforward and only took a few hours. I’ve included photos below for anyone interested in what the process looks like.

Although I was initially very concerned when the tank was discovered, I’m glad I followed through with the purchase and addressed it immediately. I now have peace of mind knowing the UST is gone and there are no lingering issues under the surface.

I hope this helps others who may come across a UST during their property search or inspection process.

Hello everyone,

I’m a commercial electrical contractor and have been operating my own business since 2019. While I've built a successful contracting career, my long-term goal has always been to transition into real estate full time—a passion I've had since college.

At present, I own a primary residence in Easley, SC, where I’ve converted the downstairs into a mid-term rental. I also recently acquired a 2 bed / 1 bath property in Greenville, SC. I’m actively working to scale back my contracting operations so I can focus more intentionally on building a rental portfolio.

Currently, I’m dedicating 60+ hours a week to my contracting company, and I’m beginning to evaluate what a realistic transition to full-time real estate looks like. Specifically, I’m interested in pursuing a buy-and-hold strategy, and I’d like to understand whether it’s feasible to go full time while self-managing fewer than 10 units—or if supplementing with flips or other income-producing strategies is typically necessary in the early stages.

I would greatly appreciate hearing from those of you who are already full time in real estate:

• What does your day-to-day typically look like?

• At what point did you consider yourself “full time”?

• Did you ease into it gradually, or make a clean break from your previous profession?

• Is your weekly schedule consistent, or does it vary depending on deal flow and management demands?

Any insights or personal experiences you’re willing to share would be incredibly helpful as I plan this next phase. Thank you in advance for your time and input.

Best regards,
James Ryan