Is being a land lord a "meaningful" job?

[Alex Silang]

So right now I work in the back office of a bank, financial processing. Pretty boring, all day I'm buried in excel. Very unexciting. Every day is the same. I feel like a drone, very little decision making. It's cushy though, I'm paid pretty well etc.

Right now I'm investing in real estate. Sometimes I daydream about becoming a full time land lord. 

Would that be preferable to what I do now, or should I just accept a lower return and get a property manager?

LL have a bad rep. If you're a good LL to your tenants (as long as you aren't a pushover), I think it would feel good. You're making big decisions. You get to see run down apartments get renovated and look beautiful. You're up and about talking to people (I'm a cubicle monkey). You "wear many hats" (to use a term used too much.) Yes there's crap you have to deal with, but that comes with any job.

What do you think? Am I just being too idealistic? 

[Kyle J.]

Personally I wouldn’t consider being a landlord a “meaningful” job. I own multiple properties and I can literally go MONTHS without doing anything other than cashing checks and making little entries in my accounting journal. Hard to find any real meaning in that. 

Completely unrelated to real estate, I do volunteer work with disadvantaged youths. It isn’t a full time (or even part time) job, and I make no money doing it. In fact, it costs me money to do it. But I get satisfaction from doing it and I would definitely consider it meaningful. 

My advice to you is, if it’s meaning you’re after, forget about being a landlord and find something you’re passionate about where you can give back at the same time. 

Just my two cents.