Doing real estate on the side

[Tetra Gershwin]

Numerous friends of mine are eager to dabble in real estate but they are unwilling to give up their day jobs. Though I assure them that it is ok to start small, minor fixers to flip, or buy inexpensive properties to hold for a market upturn, most are still hesitant to enter the market. Any advice or success stories to share would be helpful!

[J Scott]

Absolutely possible to start small...don't let something as little as a day-job stop you from jumping in...

My biggest piece of advice if you're going to do real estate part time:

Be prepared for some long hours and hard work at the beginning. If you think real estate is something you can get successful at by doing it 2 hours a week, you're going to get frustrated when you don't get anywhere...

Allocate enough time, and spend that time focused on what you need to get done.

The biggest reason I see part-time investors fail is that they are lazy. They finish their "real job," and instead of doing marketing, finding houses, talking to other investors or whatever it is they should be doing, they instead end up plopping on the couch in front of the TV and don't get anything done.

So, make the commitment BEFORE you start, make a plan, and then start executing your plan EVERY SINGLE DAY.

If you do that, you may not need that "real job" for too much longer... :)