Push, pop the clutch, then hit the gas. When did it take off?

[Ian Covington]

At what number of units, or other specific point, did your real estate investment vehicle transform from something you felt you were pushing, into some thing that you were driving? When did it change from something your primary income mostly funded, into something that could sustain and grow on its own, and that you could certainly accelerate with ease? 

I imagine it is somewhere between 5 and 10 units, depending on factors such as initial deal purchase, rent increases, etc. The math behind the logic is 7 units @ $300 net a month, will produce $25,200.00 in a year. $25K will purchase another unit where I invest. At those rates, it would gain 1 unit a year without additional funding, and only become faster with each unit purchased. 

Multifamily investors can chime in as well. I am aware that going from a ~20 unit to a ~120 unit makes a huge difference because of scale, on site staff, etc. I'm curious as to when that 'look at it go' moment happened for everyone who invests. What are the milestones?

Thanks,

Ian

[Bob Woelfel]

I didn't cash out per se...I rolled my 401k from my employer over to a Solo 401k for my business. We typically use it to lend on deals with other investors. Initially I thought I would buy and hold properties with that money, but haven't done that as of yet. I kept a little money in the stock market via and IRA, but most everything we do is real estate.