9 Ways to Maximize Your Investing Efforts While Working a Full-Time Job

Effort and knowledge is required to properly and safely invest in real estate in your local markets. However, this effort, time, and knowledge does not all have to be yours alone. Most investors have traditional jobs, family life, and/or an education to pursue. However, even with all these other commitments, many motivated investors wish to pile more responsibility and work onto their proverbial plates. If I am describing you, keep up the great daily hustle and effort.

The bullets below are items to consider when investing in real estate with a full-time job (or multiple time-sucking) obligations weekly.

9 Ways to Maximize Your Investing Efforts While Working Full-Time

1. Technology

Google Voice, call forwarding, electronic signatures, mass texting, real estate analyzing phone applications, personal branding websites, and multi-layer phone message systems are only some of the ways technology is making our life easier and easier. Start being open to implementing new tools into your business. If it helps, then keep it; if it doesn’t help, then leave it.

2. Driving

If you work a traditional job, you typically have to travel some distance between home and work. If this is you, consider starting to listen to motivational real estate investing podcasts, sales training CDs, real estate training courses you may have already purchased, self-help books on tape, etc. Your commute to work is your time to educate and motivate yourself with positive words of encouragement. The world is a busy and negative place — do all you can to boost your self-esteem and business activity daily.

3. Virtual Assistants

A virtual assistant may help organize your calls, make calls for you, oversee projects, screen sellers/buyers, and much more. When a virtual assistant is properly trained, there are many duties you will realize do not need to be performed personally by you.

Pro Tip: Aim to train your virtual assistants via recorded videos you create and share with your virtual assistants.

4. Property Management

Never worry about meeting with or speaking to a tenant, resident, renter, or tenant-buyer again. If your schedule is packed, then hiring a dedicated property manager may be very valuable for your cashflow business. Figure this cost into your expenses while crafting your original purchase offers when buying.

5. Advertising

Almost every investor needs to market and advertise their business. Some of these methods are traditional, such as newspaper, postcards, direct mail, etc. However, some advertising requires door-hangers to be placed, bandit signs to be hung, doors to be knocked on, envelopes to be mailed, etc. This marketing takes time and effort to create and distribute.

Pro Tip: By working with online postcard and direct mail marketing companies, you can easily pay to outsource your direct mail needs. Additionally, hiring local college students to hang your physical marketing material is a quick way to pay others to perform your very important busy-work.

6. Book keepers

If you love keeping track of your income and expenses, then skip this bullet point. A book keeper may help keep track of your business, income, expenses, taxes due, etc. Consider hiring a book keeper when keeping track of income and expenses becomes too much effort per month.

7. Extra Time

Extra time includes lunch breaks, drives to work and play, and any other time you are routinely free throughout the day. Use these times for business. Make focused calls daily, go to appointments, or close with buyers/sellers when possible.

8. Partners

Outsourcing to partners is a means of shifting much of the work and responsibility off of you directly. Work with partners with opposite skills and abilities as you. While working with partners, aim to monitor the health and productivity of the partnership arrangement regularly.

9. Repairs

Start working with contractors and handymen/women to make needed repairs to your investment homes. If you do not have the time to make repairs quickly, then outsource the work to a qualified professional. Your effort should be spent advertising and making deals, not necessarily swinging a hammer.

In conclusion, it is very important while real estate investing to note that this business requires time, energy, and/or money to compete. If you do not have the time to commit to seeing the deal all the way through from start to finish, then you must outsource the effort and basic tasks to others you trust. This will cost you money, but save you time. However, if you are low on cash, then consider spending time doing most action items yourself and saving money.

Investors: Any other tips you’d add to this list?

Be sure to leave a comment below!

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