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!

[Bryan Crowe]

I'm a truck driver I own my rig looking to start investing I'm 50yrs

[Jessica Hawkins]

I have run the front desk of a recreation center for the last 15 years.  I love helping people both inside the organization and (outside) of course my customers.  I am on the board of a non-profit in my area which keeps me busy outside of work.  I have always had a huge interest in finance and cannot wait to get real estate investing in full swing in the coming years.  

[Albert Bui]

Im a conventional fannie/freddie 1-4 unit residential lender and commercial mortgage broker.

I got into lending to learn how to invest better and in essence raise debt capital.

Its been a fun journey so far and I never thought I'd be doing this as long as I have. 

I like the work because im location independent and can lend in multiple states while doing REI during the day.

Interacting and networking with investors day in and day out has allowed me to see things from different angles and to learn from a lot of mistakes that I've seen.

[Account Closed]

Hi all I'm new to BP and have to say I like the level of discussion I seem so far. Very candid, intellectual, and informative. As for myself, i am a mortgage banker and have been for the last 3 years. Before that I was an urban planner and before that a cancer research. Jack of all you could say but I've always had an entrepreneurial drive, starting many small businesses over my lifetime. I learned a lot about real estate once I became a mortgage banker and I felt it would be a waste not to apply myself to it. So now I'm starting off with wholesale and will work my way up to rehabbing and renting properties. 

[Joshuah Jackson]

I am a Doctor of Oriental Medicine and I absolutely love what I do (even though my field is still relatively new in the U.S.)! I help people with their health and now also with housing and investments. Prior to this, I would describe myself as a career student but I absolutely love real estate. I see real estate as a vehicle to ultimately generate active and passive income, thus allowing me to help those that can't afford proper medical care and focus on the things that truly matter in life instead of being stuck in the "rat race." Part of my week is spent in the clinic and the other part is focused on real estate.

[Ian Walsh]

Direct HML and managing partner at TCS. Side fun - Family, golf and video games. Doesn't make for the best match.com profile

[Account Closed]

Currently I'm a physics student who is just about to finish his finals and then hopefully I'll move into software development role whilst planning my real estate strategy and saving for it. I'm 27 so I'm quite old considering I'm finishing my degree but I had a lot of personal issues between 18 and 22 so I had to start over. Best thing I ever did!

[David Graham]

I am currently working as the Assistant Business Manager for a school District just north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I graduated college in the fall of 2015 with a BS in Finance, so the working world is somewhat new to me, but I know that this is not what I want to be doing for the next 30 years.

[Jill Haselman]

I've been in the Assisted Living industry since 2001 in a corporate role.  Made some decent money as a Partner in my firm, then went on my own as a consultant in the senior living industry since 2009.  I've been a real estate junkie for 30 years and love the hunt for deals, but really dislike the lending side of the deals.

[Kyle Grimm]

It is so much fun reading about everyone's careers! It's a different side of the BP Nation I have never seen before! Thank you everyone for all your input on my post!

[Nathan Hayes]

I work as a loan processor for a company that is a mortgage services vendor. I'm in CO, but the client I work with is on the East coast. I believe this will be a big help in letting me get involved in RE investing. Now, to clear some obstacles and locate a mentor I click with and get started. I'd love to have one or two mentor assisted or equity partner flips under my belt by the end of summer!

[Michael Bogdanoff]

I am currently a District Supervisor for Lowes Companies Inc. 

This year, my beautiful wife and I will be taking the first step in our investment goals and purchasing out first property!!  Extremely excited for this new chapter in our lives!!

[David Sray]

I'm a Senior Software Project Manager for an IT monitoring company. Spent many years working in the automotive data industry before happening into real estate investing by keeping our our first house as a rental when we moved to another town. Picked up our first duplex in November and hoping to score something else this year. Absolutely convinced real estate is how I'll truly build my family's long-term wealth, even though my day job pays comparatively well. Achieving financial freedom before traditional retirement age sounds amazing, even if that still seems far off.

[Andrew Bosworth]

@Kyle Grimm 

I’m a commercial P&C insurance agent.  I guess you could say I stumbled into the insurance world. It’s a rewarding job, but also requires persistence, hard work and motivation (what job doesn’t!?).  While I work for a great agency, I wake up every morning telling myself that I’m self-employed.  Why?  Because at the end of the day no one else is going to make the calls or do the work for you (this is true of RE investing too!).  Goal setting and accountability are so important.  I’ve been an agent for 8 years and have come a long way, but those early years were hard…it was survival mode!

Real estate and insurance kind of go hand in hand, so while working in the insurance industry, I’ve also been blessed to learn a lot about real estate, property values, building maintenance and observe successful organizations.

I currently have a few single family properties, but recently decided that from a growth standpoint, it makes more sense to pursue multi-family properties.  Right now I am focusing on learning about syndication, finding deals and finding partners.

[Jose Garcia]

Good Day my Fellow investors near and far!!

I started in flipping with SFH back in 05 while I was active duty with ZERO knowledge!! Big Mistake and very COSTLY! Lesson learned fast fwd retired from the USN 2013 and started my second career in the world of shipbuilding where i'm currently a material supervisor.

Now my interest is in commercial and trying to gain knowledge and acquire apartment bldgs...

Love this Topic and I wish everyone all the best!! Happy Investing

[Latoya Gordon]

@Kyle Grimm:

Good evening BP. I am now a full-time Investor! as of November 2016, YAY. Though before then I was working as a Armed Professional Officer, 10 years. Not the same as a police officer or a private guard but something like the guys on "Scandal", but for the good guys, lol.

My journey at the time was really interesting and hilarious. While my co-workers were discussing weapons and armory, I was talking about making 90K in a few months AND without possibly getting shot... sounds like a nice day, lol

I am still certified to work and now I do it PT , pretty much when I'm bored or when I'm waiting on a property to sale. The guys would always say your "too Pretty" to be in this field, I should be at a desk somewhere. lol I personal just got tired of standing and doing runs mostly and not able to talk to certain people when I see them. 

Do you guys know how Hard it is to see one of your Real Estate Idols and cannot speak to them, "OMG" thats when I resigned and went all in. I think all the time if I was able to speak to The El Moussa's the information I would have gotten that day and other people in the industry. Never again will I stay calm and quiet knowing that could have been my time to get SO much information on Real Estate from one of the best. 

[Vina Real]

Im a newbie in REI but I've been an Operating Room nurse for 18 years now.

[Crystal H.]

I really like this post (unlike some, Josue Vargas). People come from all different types of walks in life and you never know who you might meet or who might have some great advice and experience for you outside of real estate. I am a paralegal. I really enjoyed reading everyones contributions to this post.

[Colin O'Neill]

Kyle Grimm - great topic! I love the diversity and the different walks of life that make up the word of REI. From store clerks to doctors, real estate investing is a great equalizer.

I have been a kitchen and bath designer for almost 20 years. Being around remodeling for so long gave me the real estate bug. I'm in my accidental investment of a duplex, which hopefully will become my first door shortly. Want ultimately to do fix and flips to finance buy-and-hold purchases.

Jay Leisten I'm a big fan of your work! Do you ever make it up to Rhode Island Comic Con?

[Chris S.]

Cop in Alaska. Night shift. Jobs insanely chill tho where I am so I just listen to real estate audio books and learn real estate stuff while I drive in circles.

[Keith Fjelsted]

I'm a General Contractor. We rehab and maintain bank-owned foreclosures, demo & rehab tax forfeited homes for the county, and flip homes for investors. My wife and I are looking for our first deal to build our own portfolio while continuing to do it for our investors.

[Atif Usman]

Teacher! =)

[Ronald Ruiz]

I am young (CNC) machinist at Mitsubishi hitachi power systems in Orlando, FL. Currently raising funds to put towards a duplex to hopefully house hack.  In the mean time I spend my time reading real estate investing books.. Currently reading "The Book On Managing Rental Properties". Hope to be looking in the market early 2018. 

[Fernando Muniz]

I was a hedge fund manager in Brazil prior to moving to Miami. Now I manage a family office, do some consulting for families and business owners varying from financial analysis, business operations, planning, asset protection, investment vehicles and investments in general.

My family always had many properties in Brazil. After a year of planning started bringing foreign investors into the US RE market. My job is basically wholesaling and/or finding properties and partners for them to invest with. Since the started in September we invested a little over 3 million in SFH and one small Multifamily structuring deals in different ways but usually with a mix of debt and equity. Until now we invested in FL and NJ and I have plans to do rental property investments soon.

[Mike Demmitt]

I am a software engineer for SF tech companies.  The job keeps me pretty busy, which is why I look for passive income deals (e.g. multifamily, and always using a property management company)