What should I do with my idle time?

[Stephen Spradley]

Hey guys,

I've been sitting at my laptop for the better part of 10 minutes trying to figure out how to word this so here it goes. I think I am addicted to working, or at least the grind. I work full time, go to school full time, and see everyday as an opportunity to make progress towards my goals. That being said, I am dying to finally pull the trigger on REI this year, more specifically, buy and rent out multi families for the long term, but just don't have the money right now, and don't qualify for enough using the VA loan at the moment. In my free time, I find myself just scouring the BP forums reading, and figuring out random questions to post. My question tonight is what would you guys recommend I do to progress in real estate and be able to lay my head down every night knowing I made genuine progress towards my goals? I already read a lot, but I'm running out of ideas, but don't want to just remain stagnant. Right now I'm debating enrolling in online classes to get an agents license. I have even thought of finding the local players and offering to work for free on the days I do have off (Yeah I might be crazy) just so I can get a feel for the game. I hope this post doesn't come off as vague or anything like that, and I appreciate the advice ahead of time. Thanks!

[Jacob A.]

@Stephen Spradley

I totally understand where you are coming from. I was active duty and I went through the same thing. What I did during my down time was 

1) Obtain real estate license ( it does have some cost so be aware) 

2) I actually started attending my local REI group to network and begin building connections

3) I made friends/mentor with a guy who was in the business of flips and I spent a lot of time with him at his properties learning the construction side of the business and learned how to effectively price and plan for renovations. 

4) I dedicated myself to working a part time gig in the real estate business. I found a company that actually was looking for someone to remove signs and lockboxes from their listings as well as doing random clean-ups of homes that were vacant across town and it paid 20/hr ( it wasn't steady work, but it worked for me and my schedule)

5) Focus on your bigger picture and Never stop reading and learning. I know you said you read a lot already, but you can never have too much info.