All Forum Posts by: Meghan Custer

@Jerry Guzman I just posted a similar question regarding getting my husband on board. 

I have already planned everything out in my head, so I know how we'll succeed in the end. When I mentioned it to him last night, I think he thought it was an idea for a hobby or secondary income - he doesn't understand how I plan to make REI my full-time career. He doesn't mind me trying REI, but wants to wait until we're done having kids. To me, that's not soon enough. It could be over 5 years before we're done having kids.

I worked hard last year to get us 100% debt free except for our home mortgage. Credit cards and cars are 100% paid off and we have a small emergency fund in our savings account. Now that we're building up our savings, I plan to use a small portion of that as a down payment

Try creating that same sense of security for your wife and it may make her more comfortable with you trying out a deal. 

Newbie here - No deals under my belt yet, I'm still in the education/learning phase (though, I guess you never really do leave that stage). 

I am hoping to create and grow a buy and hold rental portfolio that will eventually allow me to make REI my full time career. I tend to be a very low risk person and even if I grow things slow, I should be able to pull that off within 5 years.

The only thing is - my husband isn't as excited as I am to jump on the REI train. We were talking about it last night and he would prefer to wait until we're done having children - which could be any number of years. I am anxious to get started now because I feel like we're missing out on potential income and the growth potential for our portfolio.

So, I'm curious - has anyone here had difficulties getting their spouse on board with their investing? What eventually made your partner comfortable with the idea? My husband understands the numbers and our income potential, I think he's just being risk adverse...

Hi BiggerPockets! 

My name is Meghan - I am interested in learning all I can about becoming a buy and hold rental investor. 

My hands-on experience with RE is minimal - I purchased a foreclosure in 2009 and renovated it with my father. That home is now my family's primary residence. We have equity there, but my husband and I will be selling that property and using the profits for the down payment on a new home that we are already in the process of building. Because of that, keeping the current home to use as a first rental isn't in the cards. My father-in-law is the contractor for the new build, and with the discount he's giving us, we'll end up with over $100K equity in the new home after it's all said and done - I plan on using the new equity to finally get the ball rolling.

I'll need to keep my 9-5 for a few years, but I hope to eventually make enough in rental income that I can stay home with our kids. For now, I won't be able to devote full time hours to managing my rentals, so I'm thinking I may need to slow progress down and use a management company.

I'm curious if anyone has any tips for someone just starting out in the business who also has to work full time? How did you start out?