Buying/Starting a business vs investing in rental properties

[Heval O.]

Hi Everyone,

I've been looking into real estate for a while now and have enough money set aside to get my hands on a remote rental property (properties in my area are insanely expensive). Based on my estimates I'd net about $500/month.

At the same time, I'm wondering if the money would be better used for buying/starting a business assuming I could systemize/automate it as much as possible?

I already own a small business and know how much work it requires but I also know that business profits would dwarf the rental income...

Would be interesting to hear people's input on the matter.

Thanks for your help in advance!

[Greg Dickerson]

Originally posted by @Michael Bishop:

Originally posted by @Greg Dickerson:

Originally posted by @Heval O.:

@Greg Dickerson so essentially you created some sort of fund, assigned shares and took over the running of the business?

No I used banks, Lines of credit, owner finance and some the owners just gave them to me and I turned them around built the business and sold it back to them. Lots of options. 

Buying businesses can be a great strategy, can scale faster than real estate and there's less competition but you really need to know what you're doing and how to lead and manage people.

Real estate is much easier to operate and you can use creative structures to purchase with little to no money as well.

This is interesting. I'm curious, what's your background that helped you to be successful in this area? 

Serial entrepreneur and real estate developer. Started from nothing with nothing. No college, joined the navy right out of high school. Learned by doing, self education and hiring people smarter and better than me and learning from them. Also had some great mentors over the years.