Income vs Net Worth: Can Rental Properties be a Full-Time Income?

[Kyle Richey]

Is rental property investing best for long-term wealth building, or is it possible to make a substantial monthly income from it too?

I'd love to hear stories from people that are making $5,000-$10,000+ per month in profit from rental property investing.

Here's why: I'm in my early 30's and run a successful business with a comfortable salary, so now I have two financial goals:

1. Diversify my income.

2. Build wealth for retirement.

I'm trying to decide between building another business and continuing to passively invest in an index fund and Roth IRA, or if I should start investing in rental properties. I don't have enough extra capital to invest seriously in all three, so I'd prefer to focus my time/money.

So, while I feel confident in my next business idea, I also know that about 2/3 of the businesses I've created over the years have failed to turn a significant profit, so real estate seems like a better way to diversify.

Here's the problem: From everything I'm reading, it seems like the cashflow from rental properties is relatively low on average (e.g. $200/month/unit seems to be a common example). It also seems like it's best to reinvest the cashflow over decades to build wealth and set yourself up for retirement. That's awesome, but that wouldn't help with my first goal of diversifying my income.

So, I'd love to know if it's feasible to build up to a reasonable monthly income ($5,000+) within 5 years of starting to buy rental properties, even if that means not reinvesting any of the profit.

I'm totally willing to put in the work, but if this strategy is best for long-term wealth building, knowing that upfront will help me decide whether or not to pursue a second business.

Thanks!