Full time agent part time investor... Help!

[Chris Pasternak]

Hi guys, 

I'm looking for some feedback here on my situation in a nutshell.. I'm a full-time agent by happenstance because I got my license to aid my investment business in order to view my own properties and utilize the MLS for data mainly.

Fast forward two years I'm crushing it as a full-time agent as I decided my 9-5 job sucked and I love the freedom I now have been able to obtain through the new occupation.  

However, my dream is to still be a full time investor and purchase rental properties to ultimately overtake my income and provide wealth and cash flow into the future.

My question is how do I balance not having a "steady" income and saving money to invest?  

I had no issues saving money when I knew exactly what my pay would be.

There's a sort of catch 22 here with my situation anyone else in similar boat?  How did you overcome or are you also stuck?

[Nick G.]

Hey @Chris Pasternak. 23 years old and an agent in SoCal, similar sales numbers as you (and identical passive income goal as you), been licensed for 5 years now, so I have a bit of advice despite not being 30 years+ in the business.

First off, nothing works unless you live below your means. It's exciting to do well in RE sales, but it also can come and go unexpectedly from time to time, especially when you're newer.

#1 Rule of playing the investing game is to not get taken out of the game. Before you start saving too much to invest, make sure you already have emergency money put away so that you never get taken out of the game. 6 months of living expenses socked away out of sight is a healthy amount.

Once you have that (and not sooner), you've probably heard this already, but pay yourself first. Put 10%-20% or more of every check into an opportunity account. If you're living within your means, that should be doable. I try to put every dang dollar I can into my Opportunity Fund (RE investing money.)

Lastly, make sure to put aside at least 5% of each check into what I call a Funmergency Fund. Cheesy name notwithstanding, it's really important for me to be able top have a chunk of money put away for fun expenses that make me zero money, but bring me joy.