Am I doing RE investing wrong? (or not as efficiently)

[Joe B.]

I currently own 1 SFH. Bought it in 2018, house hacked it, and now live with my girlfriend. That house now gives $700 month in positive cash flow. 4 years later however, I am still at that one unit. Now, I am ready to jump on a multifamily that comes across my eye. I would love a 4-plex, however if the numbers work, I will be open to something smaller.

I study everything RE related religiously, whether podcasts, books and much more. Every now and then I will come across a podcast in which a person owns 50+ units just in their mid 20s which is impressive! My question is, what strategy are they using to make that achievable? With a generous w2 job and numerous side hustles, I still only own 1. Am I missing something here?

[Corby Goade]

You can't do it wrong as long as you are holding yourself accountable to your personal goals. It sounds to me like you've got a bad case of Cardoneitis- that's a disease that entrepreneaurs get when they keep being told that they need to go big or go home, but their goals are nebulous and so "going big" is impossible because you don't have your short term, SMART goals in place. 

A couple things- the only thing you have said in your post is that you think you are doing it wrong becuase you've heard of other people in their 20s with 50 units. Who are those people? Are they living YOUR dream? What is your dream? What would life look like if you did have 50 units? How would that change your life? How would each of those 50 units perform? Who would manage them? How would you fund them? The point I'm making is you are skipping to Z without considering step B. 

I would focus on a short term goal- house hack a fourplex by X date. Step one- how will you fund it? Step two, how will you find it? That's it, keep it SMART and simple. 

Start considering what your long term goals might look like and the small steps you take every day to get closer to those goals. You can do it, you just need to break it down. 

Good luck!