Should I give up on buy and hold?

[Farakh Zaman]

So we've spent the last 7 months looking at deals daily.  We have run the calculator on this site to the point I don't even need to think to put in the numbers...but literally nothing has panned out.  5 cities, 600+ properties looked at, ~50 offers made using numbers that make sense (~10 at full asking) and literally nothing.  

What to do now?  I am all for "keep on trying" but something isn't right.  Am i being naive or are others having the same issue?  I go to meet ups or listen to podcasts and webinars and see all of these deals out there everyone is getting but not one has worked out using realistic numbers for us.  

Money is also not an issue for us as it is for some...at this point we have enough to pay cash for some of these places we offer on but obviously that doesn't make sense for an investment property...

At this point I am wanting to give up on the buy and hold option and find something else...thoughts?

[James Wise]

Originally posted by @Farakh Zaman:

So we've spent the last 7 months looking at deals daily.  We have run the calculator on this site to the point I don't even need to think to put in the numbers...but literally nothing has panned out.  5 cities, 600+ properties looked at, ~50 offers made using numbers that make sense (~10 at full asking) and literally nothing.  

What to do now?  I am all for "keep on trying" but something isn't right.  Am i being naive or are others having the same issue?  I go to meet ups or listen to podcasts and webinars and see all of these deals out there everyone is getting but not one has worked out using realistic numbers for us.  

Money is also not an issue for us as it is for some...at this point we have enough to pay cash for some of these places we offer on but obviously that doesn't make sense for an investment property...

At this point I am wanting to give up on the buy and hold option and find something else...thoughts?

 It sounds to me like your expectations need an adjustment. 

What are your goals when it comes to owning rental property? Is it to quit your day job or to leverage additional capital to build long term wealth?

 You won't be raking in cash by buying a few rental properties. Instead you will benefit long term by building wealth and lowering your tax burden in the process. Think long term, think OPM

OPM (Other People's Money) 

You can obtain up to 10 30yr mortgages in your name. If you are married that's 10 for you & 10 for your wife. Assuming you both live in your own home that puts you as a couple at 19 residential mortgages. You will need to put down between 15-25%. The rest will be lent to you by the bank and the bank will be paid by your tenants.

Assuming you purchased 19 single family homes at 100k a piece that would be a capital output of $285,000 to own a portfolio valued at $1.9M. When you are ready to retire assuming zero appreciation & zero rental cash flow throughout the years you will still clear $1.6M+ more than what you paid.