17 Homes and growing but FEEL Stuck HANDs-ON - How did YOU ESCAPE wearing every hat?

[Michael Hoover]

Hello all Need advice (I think), Started in Real estate 3 years ago with 160k liquid cash to begin. I've always had the hands-on I can do it if anyone can mentally so my plan was always BRRRR (fixing ugly homes). Currently at 17 homes rented and 3 purchased inline for rehab. Always have had good credit and my previous job had me starting with 0 in debt. Family of 5 to support.

From the beginning, I've been doing every step as a one-man operation with 1 to 2 labor "helpers". Home search, to reno planning, to paint, to plumbing, to floors, to roof, to record-keeping, contract writing, and self-managing (all).       Feel I have backed myself into a more than full time job and in my baby rural town feel this might be the only way to keep this profitable.

I invest in my "backyard" of Central MS, VERY Rural small towns. BRRRR method primarily

16 homes rented, 3 in line

my average home purchase at 36k of mid to highly-distressed properties,

finished Reno appraised value avg 99K

Avg Loan to value 60% after the cash out refi 

Cash flow avg 329/each, 5200 total.

Porfolio value 1.85m,         Equity 811k.

I know I'm growing home numbers, cash flow and net worth so Feel I'm moving forward but finding a real mentor to show me how to be more hands-off would be GRREEAT.

Contractors in my area are nearly impossible to find. Tiny Handyman businesses have been unable to tackle full work scopes and hiring individual jobs doesn't pan out money-wise.      

Maybe I've grown to accustomed to the "Free labor" of myself? Looking for someone who has battled a similar mindset and how you escaped!?   

 Thank you for your time to help me out. For real!

[JD Martin]

Quote from @Michael Hoover:

Hello all Need advice (I think), Started in Real estate 3 years ago with 160k liquid cash to begin. I've always had the hands-on I can do it if anyone can mentally so my plan was always BRRRR (fixing ugly homes). Currently at 17 homes rented and 3 purchased inline for rehab. Always have had good credit and my previous job had me starting with 0 in debt. Family of 5 to support.

From the beginning, I've been doing every step as a one-man operation with 1 to 2 labor "helpers". Home search, to reno planning, to paint, to plumbing, to floors, to roof, to record-keeping, contract writing, and self-managing (all).       Feel I have backed myself into a more than full time job and in my baby rural town feel this might be the only way to keep this profitable.

I invest in my "backyard" of Central MS, VERY Rural small towns. BRRRR method primarily

16 homes rented, 3 in line

my average home purchase at 36k of mid to highly-distressed properties,

finished Reno appraised value avg 99K

Avg Loan to value 60% after the cash out refi 

Cash flow avg 329/each, 5200 total.

Porfolio value 1.85m,         Equity 811k.

I know I'm growing home numbers, cash flow and net worth so Feel I'm moving forward but finding a real mentor to show me how to be more hands-off would be GRREEAT.

Contractors in my area are nearly impossible to find. Tiny Handyman businesses have been unable to tackle full work scopes and hiring individual jobs doesn't pan out money-wise.      

Maybe I've grown to accustomed to the "Free labor" of myself? Looking for someone who has battled a similar mindset and how you escaped!?   

 Thank you for your time to help me out. For real!

First off, nice job - I did it the same way myself, with a full time job, so I know exactly how hard it was. I also struggle sometimes with paying for things that I know I can do better, and cheaper, myself. Here's some of my tips:

1. Let go of maximizing every penny. Assuming your portfolio pays for itself - which it seems to do, from your numbers - let some of the costs be borne by the portfolio. I started with the things I really hated doing myself - mucking around in crawl spaces, for example, or climbing up on tall roofs. I moved from that into things that I know I can do myself but cannot do them anywhere near as efficiently as who I've hired. So for example I had my plumber recently repipe an entire rental that started popping pin holes in the copper. The house was a "work on your back" crawl space and had some decent runs and spots where it was going to be tough (not impossible) working alone. So I eventually got to where I call out my cavalry for most things, because I value my time, and save the low-impact high cost stuff for myself. IE I don't pay an electrician $100-150 to change a broken outlet. 

2. Back off the RE feeding frenzy. Only you know when you have "enough", and some people never do, but once you get that mark you can make #1 a lot easier to convince yourself to do by minimizing your debt load. Your ROI won't be as good but your cash flow will be strong enough that you won't care that you have to call out help.

3. Throw some jobs to your professionals even when you know you can do them yourself. That's the only way to keep people willing to work for you. If you only send them the hellish jobs, they'll be pretty reluctant to answer your calls.