WHO ARE YOU? What do you do besides real estate?

[Kyle Grimm]

Hello BP nation! 

My question for BP nation is what is your day job? Although we would love to be, most of us are not yet full time investors.  

As I grow older and try to figure out the direction of my career, I love hearing the stories of other successful real estate investors and how they got there.  I am currently...struggling... at my day job (100% commission insurance salesman) and dream of finding a job I can enjoy while I slowly grow my real estate portfolio. 

So BP... What is your day job and what does your life look like trying to work it while you grow your investing career? 

Ready...GO!

[Alana Shields]

Hey BP community!

So I am actually a nurse by day and student by night!

Though I'm just in the education phase of my pursuit of REI, I'm really excited for what the further holds.

Nursing is very mentally and physically challenging but I think it can work very well and even seamlessly with REI. It provides decent income and I only work three-four days a week.

I'm still trying to get my feet wet and appreciate the BP Nation for all it's help and knowledge!

[Mike Nelson]

I have been an architect since graduating college.  Right now I am really enjoying it.  I work for a Chicago Engineering firm.  My group specializes in renovation of 100-200 unit multifamily residential buildings built 20-100 years ago.  I am fortunate to work with a great group of people who can tackle the many challenges this type of work presents.  Our work includes projects for government agencies to upgrade and give the residents a better place to live.  Some of our work involves renovation to provide greater accessibility.  Our body of knowledge from our experience typically makes our process more efficient, and a better end product, but there are always new challenges.  Unlike previous firms, I like that this one has our own structural, electrical, and mechanical engineers inhouse.

[Jason Yarusi]

I work in the family heavy construction business raising houses and moving buildings. The majority of our work at this time is at the Jersey Shore raising houses to new elevations to lower their risk of future flooding, reduce their flood insurance and make them FEMA compliant.

[Matt Faix]

@Kyle Grimm This is a great topic. 

My wife and I both still work full time. I'm an IT Project Manager at a global law firm. We currently have 7 units self managed, a 2 year old at home, and a baby on the way. Life is busy, but that doesn't stop us. We got into investing after we got married, and will likely never stop. We started into real estate by flipping the house we live in, followed by buying several small multiunit deals. I enjoy my job and the work I do (most days), but ultimately want the freedom to live life on my own terms and not have to follow the standard model of "Go to school, work 40+ years, invest in a 401K, and hopefully have enough to retire at a reasonable age." 

[Emmanuel Eluobaju]

I love reading everybody's stories and getting a idea of the community! 

As for myself, I am currently a Project Engineer for a large mechanical contractor. I study rel-estate at night and am starting a direct mail campaign to search for my first house hacking deal in Chicago. 

[Stephen Masek]

Please keep the good stories coming, as this is one of the most interesting threads in the forum. 

[Greg H.]

What my friends, family and tenants think I do :  Play golf and basketball every day

What I actually do:  Aside from a stint in the United States Army in the late 80's, being a Real Estate Broker/House Flipper is the only job I have ever had.  Besides playing golf and basketball :)

[Ethan Summers]

I run a real wholesale business based in Charleston SC. I spend most of my time helping other Real Estate professionals close transactions in their respective areas. I also volunteer at a local after school program in the Charleston area!! 

[Max T.]

I am a high school math teacher at a charter school in Philadelphia. I've been doing this for 9 years.

I started a wrestling team there about 6 years ago and now we are one of the best teams in the area.

I find the summers off are great times for rehab projects and tenant turnover. I have about 7 units now.

I'm also a recently licensed agent. I got it to save on my own commissions and to make some cash on the side. So far so good!

And one year ago I became a DAD!

[Mike Cumbie]

I work part time as a computer systems engineer. I was able to reduce down to 20 hours a week after 20+ years. I knock out 4 hours early in the morning and spend the rest of my day as an agent or working on investment property. There are a few advantages to keeping the W-2 for me, besides getting me up and moving in the morning, it's a large company so I have pulled leads from there. Plus the income is now over 2 years at part time so it counts as income for mortgage purposes.

[Kevin Douglas]

I'm a transportation manager for a scientific equipment company. I rarely ever think about transportation outside of work however real estate is in my mind basically whenever I'm awake. This tells me what path I need to follow. 1 unit down, only about 19 more to go before I can exit the rat race!

[Rich Vetter]

I'm a CPA doing accounting for a tech Company that recently IPO'd. Before that I worked in Public Accounting. The skills definitely help with the analyzing & bookkeeping aspect of real estate, but there's no real way of knowing learning real estate investing without jumping into the water and doing it.

[Alamen Ems]

My full time job is mechanical engineering, I got my masters degree in manufacturing engineering in 2009. I worked as maintenance for awhile and I love doing home modifications stuff such as flooring, plumbing sometimes and I enjoying it.

I started educating myself for RE for almost 2 years. I owned my first house in 2013 I lived on it fixed it then I sold it on 2016. And I just bought my 2nd house and I am living on it.

Working on paying off my credit and some of my cars and will jump in the RE as soon as I get chance.
I am tired of going to work everyday with too Much stress and working minimum 50 hours a week.
I need to get some free time with the family and enjoy vacations.

[Travis Buck]

Full time Houston firefighter

[Ian Reeves]

@Kyle Grimm - I am  a mechanical engineer.  I work full time, but have been able to build and scale my business quickly by delegating, hiring a stay at home mom part time and partnering.  My life is a little crazy right now but it will pay off soon.  I am getting very close to my freedom number and it is an amazing feeling :)  It is definitely worth it, real estate has completely changed my life for the better, would not trade it for anything.  Good luck to you!

[Sawyer Burnett]

Full time software developer here. Have always wanted to start my business and have realized that instead of going for a unicorn startup, it is probably much more likely I'll create a successful business doing real estate.

Still struggling with that every day as I don't want to grind through the first x years of a real estate investing career only to regret not starting my own software company. Probably the best solution for me would be to invest in Real estate part time while eventually starting my own software company.

[Stephen Masek]

Originally posted by @Lesley Resnick:

There are very few published stories of, I jumped in and got my head handed to me on this site.  There is a good reason, they leave and never return.  

Indeed, not here or anywhere else.  They do not publicize their failure, or even have time to do so.  We have made mistakes (e.g. some older houses in Memphis), but limit our risk by keeping each house a small percentage of our net worth and paying cash.    

[Cameron Small]

During the day I'm a Software Engineer, I show up to work at 7am. I take breaks at 8:30am and 2pm CT to trade Options. During my drive to and from work I listen to the BP podcast as well as during my lunch break. I'm not a successful REI, but I will be one day.

[Daniel Hyman]

I'm a self employed CPA. Taxes are my bread and butter. One day it dawned on me that my real estate investor clients were doing pretty well. So I decided to jump in myself. I love the flexibility that self employment allows- especially with raising young kids!

[Jamie O'Brien]

Love this idea @Kyle Grimm. 

Real estate has taken me by storm and I can say without hesitation, I AM OBSESSED. I've always been a fan of financial freedom at a young (relative) age. Once I started educating myself on real estate it became overwhelmingly apparent to me that this was a investment platform that I was going to utilize. The day grind is great. I have learned so much business sense, people skills and plain old world experience through my day job.

First in my life, I am a husband and a father of two twin girls! During the day I am a successful medical device sales representative. The grind of a commission based sales position has taught me so much about myself, and about managing a business. It has also taught me that one source of income, especially commission based, is scary, uncertain and not enough. My focus for real estate is to establish another stream of income for my family and provide a platform for early financial freedom. I would love to eventually own and run my own business. Real Estate may be that business.

Juggling both a day job and trying to aggressively grow my real estate portfolio has been a struggle. I "eat what I kill" at work, and also in real estate. I believe that once I get some momentum in the real estate game it will take off and I will be able to focus more on the business rather than working in the business... Another skill I had to learn early on to establish a healthy sales career. Anything worth doing will be a grind at the beginning. It's having the mental toughness to keep your head down and keep grinding that will ultimately make you successful in all parts of life!

Thanks for the great topic! Fun to hear others stories.

[Kyle Miller]

I'm working FT as a supply chain management supervisor for a aerospace and defense contractor. The income is great, and an easy way to build up down payments and funds for rehab. I love what I do, but I know that working the 50-60hr weeks won't be sustainable for my entire life. Do it young, right?

[Bim Fujah]

I'm currently a forecast and scheduling analyst for a call center by day but by night I am a DJ. Mostly private events but did the club scene for a while. I would love to do that full time if I could. 

[Whitney Coleman]

I am a full time engineer with a government agency. Started getting into real estate about a year ago when I ran across a podcast by Paula from afford anything and have been reading and researching ever since. Just put my first property under contract (a quadplex) and excited to begin the "house hack" journey!

[Jordan Moorhead]

I own a small fitness business with 3 employees!

[Marcus Mathews]

I own my own job selling surplus industrial MRO parts on eBay.