I'm in my 6th year of investment, still excited

[Brandon Schlichter]

Overall the 'joy' of owning real estate/rentals hasn't worn off yet. 

Started in 2013 buying two rentals that year, then in 2014 I ended up with around ten, in 2015 I hit 20, 2016 I hit 40. 

Now, between January 2017 and today, I've added approximately 36 more units with another 12 in contract putting me to a total of 86 units.

I started out mostly buying houses and duplexes, and in the past two years added several quadplexes to get my numbers up. I also went with many lower-end properties which are now seeing very decent appreciation and the cash flow I had been aiming for the whole time.

I also opted for self-managing everything (But not doing maintenance myself). Between now and my 2018 goal of 125 rentals, I'll add a part-time secretary to help with the paperwork requirements and whatnot. Her pay will only take a few apartments to afford her.

The opportunities overall seem to be snowballing. Starting out it was my biggest fear that the market would contract price-wise and price investors out of the market. So since starting I've bought every single property I could cashflow and somehow get money for (begging, borrowing, eating ramen for, etc.) While my quality-of-life is less than many people I know, think it should be, but it indeed is quite rewarding to see a point in the future where I can walk away, stop re-investment and still make more than anyone else my age that I know. 

[Mike H.]

That theme sounds somewhat familiar but maybe an opposite ending. Albeit you really rocketed to your units. I pretty much had the same believe. Been doing this for just under 10 years now. 68 houses. Still love getting a new house too. Its like finding treasure every time. Bought 3 a year for 6 years, then ratcheted up to 8, 12, 17, etc.  I had the same fear for the last 9 years - that the deals/prices weren't going to last forever so I was pushing hard. 

This year the numbers shot up and the inventory in that discounted range went way down. Still managed to grab 5 though in the last 4 mos of the year.

For me, I'm seeing slower growth as being the new norm.  I bought a couple of lower end houses in the first couple of years but almost all of my stuff since has been in middle (150k homes, rent for 1,400 /mo or so).  Didn't do any multiunit (duplexes, triplexes, etc) here because the numbers just never worked and because I also self manage and those type of homes seemed to management intensive. 

Congratulations on the success . I know for me I would have never imagined when I started I'd be sitting here with almost 70 houses. Even if that was your goal,, the reality that you're going to be at 125 units in the next few years has to feel pretty good.

Always good to hear how someone thats boomed that fast still has the passion for growing more. I get that a lot from friends/family - when are you going to stop? Don't you have enough? My answer is always, why would I stop if I'm picking up these kinds of deals? :-)