The Most Important Note About Real Estate Investing and Your Relationship

[Jonathan Greene]

If you are in a relationship and want to invest, there is one thing you must be sure of before you start your journey.

You have to be on the same page about real estate investing.

Almost every story of a successful investor has a cooperative partnership and agreed view on investing as a couple (and a plan for the kids if they have them).

Both parties don't have to have the same level of involvement. Still, there has to be a shared motivation to grow financially and a shared understanding of the risks involved with the particular investments you are looking at.

This should be obvious, but I know from talking to investors for over 30 years that it's not.

It's very difficult to be a successful real estate investor if your spouse or partner is not on board. You will fight about it all the time. You will try to hide what you are doing. It starts a vicious cycle and a lack of trust.

If your partner is unsure, help educate them on your why and see if it resonates. Learn together when you can or leave some links when you find something good so that it is a shared activity.

There are so many posts about the metrics of a deal, or the qualities of the asset, but those won't matter if you put your relationship in the middle of your investing trajectory. Some partners will be more passive and then grow to enjoy it. Some the other way. But if you want to build passive income and generational wealth and have a partner or spouse, you need to do it together.

Last note for house hackers: this is most important for you. If this wasn't on their radar before, you can't surprise your partner on your first hack by living in the basement unit. You will be living there alone in that case. :)

[Gregory Schwartz]

@Jonathan Greene

I completely agree that getting your spouse on board is crucial. My wife is now my partner and manages our portfolio, and I can't imagine doing it any other way.

It wasn't always like this, though. In the beginning, I made the mistake of trying too hard to educate her. Eventually, I realized I needed to back off. As luck had it the Marines decided I should deploy for 7 months, I guess they knew she needed space. While I was gone she ended up reading Set for Life and Retire Early with Real Estate on her own. When I returned, she was fully on board and ready to dive in.