Agent, Flipper, Landlord

[Mark Weinstein]

Hey BP Fam,

I received some advice last night and wanted to run it by the BP community to see some of your thoughts about it.

Last night I posted a topic about strategies to get the contact info for REI. I got some valuable responses but then I received a PM from a member.

We briefly spoke about the topic and then I let him know I'm currently an agent (the REI contact info I was seeking was actually for my agent work) and that in the next 6 months I plan to purchase my first two investment properties, one to buy and sell and one to buy and hold.

I was told by this member (won’t give his name out of respect/privacy) that this is a bad idea. He told me I should make a choice on either being a realtor, a flipper, or a landlord. He said it would be unwise to try to master all 3. I strongly disagree but I wasn’t looking for confrontation so I thanked him for his advice and kept it moving.

So it got me to thinking over the last 24 hrs, is he right? This isn’t a career plan I thought of in the spur of the moment, this is something I’ve been planning for quite some time now.

The reason I didn’t agree is because I think Its an advantage leveraging one position into the other. I personally believe all 3 professions are interchangeable to some extent. Plus, in an ideal world, when I begin my investment portfolio in a few months, I was always planning on taking a more hands-off approach as an agent and letting my office’s team handle some of my workload (obviously I would expect a lower % commission on these closed deals).

I already have a private investor who’s planning to fund the flipping projects and I’m house hacking my first rental property. I’m very good at analyzing deals now that fit my criteria for both investment strategies so I’m really trying to figure out why he’s so against this career plan.

Is he correct about me spreading myself thin? I personally think I can do all 3 efficiently if I follow my business plans for each. But at the same time, I’m very curious why such an experienced, successful investor would tell me that. He has more skin in the game then I’ve ever had yet so I’m playing devils advocate with myself. One side is saying “don’t let someone rain on your parade when he doesn’t truly know what your goals are” and the other side is saying “maybe he’s right, he’s been doing this long enough to know and is just trying to help me avoid mistakes.”

So what do you think BP community? I’m always going to follow my dreams regardless but I’m always looking for ways to be more effective. I would love to hear some of your opinions/advice on this.

Thanks in advance for your help!

[Matt Groth]

Originally posted by @Mark Weinstein:

@Matt Groth Appreciate the advice Matt. Thank you!

1 more thing...you can make a lot of money being exceptional at any one of them.