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Why I’m Glad I Chose Now To Quit My Full Time Job to Pursue Real Estate Investing

Aaron Kinney
3 min read
Why I’m Glad I Chose Now To Quit My Full Time Job to Pursue Real Estate Investing

I, like many of you, had set the goal to make enough recurring monthly income to support my family and give myself the freedom to leave my job.

That’s always been my number one goal for my real estate business, even before I started working full time.  (I began investing while I was in college.)  I would have loved to have had the opportunity to focus on the business full time upon completing school, but with only a couple of investments under my belt and limited cash and knowledge, it would have been a huge uphill battle.

Here’s why I’m glad I decided to wait three years:

Money

Just like many of you who have made wise real estate investments and lived below your means, I have a lot more money than I did when I first started out, both in terms of savings and monthly income from my investments.

Even our personal expenses have gone down as my wife and I have just recently cut our housing expenses in half by moving from the suburbs to a more rural area.

Our monthly income is still pretty low, but with having such low personal expenses, we’re able to cover all of our expenses right now without dipping into savings.  We also have the savings to bail us out of trouble when the time comes.

Related: How to “Hack” Your Housing and Get Paid to Live for Free

Business Model

My business of buying mobile home with land properties has been refined many times since I got started.  My first investment was a mobile home only and I quickly decided that this business wasn’t for me.  I then bought a couple of mobile home and land properties before I was distracted with mobile home parks for several months.  I went back to investing in mobile homes with land and have focused on these since.

This struggle with focus was difficult for me and I know this is a common problem for investors and entrepreneurs.  However, by working full-time, I didn’t have to worry about where the money was going to come from to pay bills while I was still trying to figure out the investment best suited for my goals and personality.

It’s amazing how much our business has changed in terms of strategy, such as how we acquire, market, and sell properties as well as the various members of our team.  I’m glad that these growing pains occurred at a less risky time period.

Emotional -> Logical Decision

By waiting a few extra years and allowing my business to continue to grow unencumbered, I could make a logical decision to leave my job instead of an emotional one.

When I first started investing at 21, the belief that I could make it immediately as a full-time investor would have been purely based on my own brashness and overconfidence in my abilities.  My wife and I would have had some crazy stressful times and maybe we would have made it, but I’m glad we waited.

I actually planned my exit a year in advance, just simply talking it over with my wife frequently and continuing to crunch numbers to figure out where we needed to be financially.  This really helped relieve the anxiety we shared about this critical decision.

By the time I told my boss I was leaving until my last day, my wife and I were both calm and at peace with the decision.

Related: How to Start Investing In Real Estate at a Young Age (or a “Young at Heart” Age)

Summary

For those who are considering leaving their jobs, I hope this helped a little.

It’s a tough decision, but my advice is to make sure that you are realistic with your abilities and that you make a logical decision to leave your job instead of an emotional one.

What do you think? When will you quit your job? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.