How did you quit your job

Question

For anyone that was able to quit their 9-5 and move full time into real estate (or something else) I'm curious to hear your stories. How did it play out? What was it like? How long did it take? What did you learn? I've set goals around this and looking for inspiration from people that have done it.

Alecia Loveless · Answer

@Josh Butler Directly out of college I owned two bed and breakfasts back to back for 24 years. Along the way to pay for our health insurance (partner and self) which had crept up to $1400 a month pre-Obamacare I took on a W-2. I have been doing that for 9 years now simultaneously while running the second B&B which I sold a year ago. My goal is to retire on my birthday in about 5 years. I currently work an overnight shift where some nights I have about 30 minutes of work then 7.5 hours to myself and other nights I have the whole 8 hours to myself. I read, listen to podcasts, and learn. It is time well spent. I have some property that is paid off and others with mortgages. My goal is to start paying off the mortgages and eventually have enough for a comfortable retirement. I read all the Rich Dad Books when they first came out. I wish BiggerPockets had existed when I was 20. I had a great lifestyle in my 20s and 30s. Now I’m playing catch-up. Fortunately I’m getting there one building at a time. You can too!

JD Martin · Answer

I didn't. I let RE investing be an ancillary career to my regular career, until it eventually overtook my career financially. I still never left my career but will retire much earlier because of my RE than would have happened otherwise.

JD Martin · Answer

LOL. I have had a similar moment once before in life, though it was just a garbage job not a career. After I had enlisted in the Navy, I was in a waiting pattern until they told me when to report, so I kept my job pumping gas on the Parkway. In the summertime on the weekend traffic would be really heavy to get gas (this was at the beach in S Jersey, you can't pump your own gas in NJ) because no one wants to get off and pay the tolls to get back on. We had 6 pump stations and my buddy was working at another pump when a customer tried pulling a common scam - they'd tell you to fill it, or put in 20, and then say "I told you 10, that's all I have". This guy starts cussing my buddy out and they get in an argument, and the manager comes running out. The manager was this doofus that I went to high school with and he tells my buddy to apologize in front of the customer. Well, he says "screw you, I quit". I see him walking off and say "Kevin, what's going on?" - "I quit!" he yells. I said "You know what, I quit too!". I was pumping gas in a customer's car and just walked off leaving the customer open-mouthed. The 3 other guys working see us walking off and decided to quit too! The manager is jumping up and down, screaming in the parking lot "You can't quit!". The bunch of us go jump in Kevin's car - it was an old Monte Carlo with welded closed doors, so you had to crawl in the windows - drove out and got a case of beer, hung out at the pier and drank some, then came back to the station. Cars were lined up for over a mile to get to the station; we took the bypass and when we got in there, all of the pumps were closed except 2 and the manager and the division manager - another jerk - were out there running around trying to service this line of cars. We yelled obscenities at them, drove in circles around the pumps, threw beer cans at them.🤣 Probably not my finest moment, but boy was it fun, and funny. The whole thing was like something from a low-budget movie, like "Take this Job and Shove it" type thing. As it turned out, all the guys got their jobs back. When the regional manager heard what happened they fired the station manager, demoted the divisional manager to station manager and rehired everyone. They offered me my job back but I was leaving for the Navy in another week or so and declined.

Michael Plante · Answer

Bought property until it brought in approx 80% of my work income My boss had been out on medical leave for almost a year only met her once at my 30 day review after I had worked there for 6 months. She wrote, requires too much supervision lol. Yes the irony was not lost on me So I was at work one day. Only 1 other person there out of 6 of us. I got mad about something. I turned to that person and said. You know what. I’m going home. Please let the boss know I quit. Bye. And I walked out When I play it out over in my mind. MANY years later it still brings a smile to my face. 😀

JD Martin · Answer

Ha! I wish! Music is a really, really hard profession to make a living unless you like being a starving artist 🤣 - me, I'm an Italian who likes to eat so I needed a backup plan! Nevertheless, yes I am a professional with an album and a thousand live shows under my belt and actual royalties from my songs being streamed and played. Every so often the royalties are enough to go out to dinner 🤣🤣, but you can check out my band and my website in the show notes from BP Podcast 243 in my signature.

Michael Carbonare · Answer

It was easy. I was the world's worst employee. . .I was fired.

Michael Magno · Answer

@Josh ButlerI got into RE as an agent in 2016. My “9-5” which wasn’t that (I worked in Restaurants) was awful. When I came to a crossroads, my wife was very supportive. The first year or so was rough, but I’ve never looked back. This past year my wife quit her job to join my team and work in RE full time with me. We’re going to sell over 100 properties this year. Best decision I ever made.

Joe Splitrock · Answer

I have dreamed of having a Jerry Maguire moment and leaving my job. But I love grandstanding and epic endings, haha. Your story brought a smile to my face too!

Josh Butler · Answer

@JD Martin A fellow musician! Is music your regular career? I would love to pursue music more fully. Also I see you were a podcast guest #243. I don't think I have gotten to that one yet I will have to give it a listen.

Michael Plante · Answer

Wow freaking crazy!!Thank you for your service Sir.