Can It Really Be This Easy?

[Colin Reid]

I'm new to this, but I'm seeing the pot of gold in real estate.

I only have one rental, my former residence (I'm active military) which currently isn't cash flowing (losing $15/month). I'm in the process of fixing that with a re-fi and will definitely fix it when I renew the rental contract. It's being managed for the standard 10%.

I am now in a different state, bought a house to live in, and looking to buy more properties. Using my current rental property as a model, I want to put up the capital, hand it over to a property manager, and collect. It's super easy with my current property. I haven't lifted a finger regarding that property since I moved out of it.

The question is, how scaleable is that? How many properties can I expect to be able to own and have a third party manage? Right now, it seems like a win-win. I do virtually no work and someone else pays my mortgage every month. Is it really that easy?

I'm 28 now. Is a goal of being essentially retired by 40 crazy, assuming I just own the properties and I pay 10% to have someone else manage them all?