Seeking personal insight from other mom investors

Seeking personal insight from other mom investors

Flipper/Rehabber · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2019 · 16 posts · 11 votes

Hi there,

My question is not of a technical nature, moreof a lifestyle/confidence question:

My husband has been interested in and learning about investing for the past three years, starting right around the time my first child was born. I have resisted the idea as it's been a chaotic couple of years (marriage, two babies, two moves, both of us changed jobs, he lost his father, etc) and I've just wanted to be on cruise control when it came to our careers. But my current job dissatisfaction has me coming around on the idea. We have a good split of skills (him: financial, acquisitions, me: project management, general handiness), and we have the opportunity to work with a coach that we've researched and feel good about, which would include some joint ventures...and the accountability and focus of working with a coach seems like the only way we'd get the ball rolling given that we both work forty hours and are really stretched with our kids. My hangup is that the commitment would require a lot of evening and weekend time away from our kids. The long term is, of course, to have more freedom in our schedule to spend time with them, travel, etc. But while that sounds nice, I'm having cold feet committing to the idea of missing them so much for the first year or so until we can get to the point where one of us can part ways with full time employment...they are 1 and 3 1/2 years old. And what if the longterm vision doesn't materialize.

Any moms (or dads) who started investing while still working full time when their kids were very young who can offer insight? Bonus points if you were working with your significant other as a business partner.

Thanks!!!

Chrissa

0Reply
18 views

4 Replies

Jump to latestLatest
  • Dawn BrenengenBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Real Estate Broker · Raleigh, NC · Member since 2014 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    7y

    @Chrissa Carlson What kind of investing are you wanting to do that you feel is going to take so much evening and weekend time?

  • Flipper/Rehabber · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2019 · 16 posts · 11 votes
    7y

    @Dawn Brenengen, we're looking at doing a few flips to get a handle on acquisitions and rehabs, then moving toward buy and hold rentals for cash flow and building up equity. I'm anticipating there will be a good bit of time spent going to see properties to assess potential deals, and during the renovation process...but I'd love to hear your thoughts on the approach and the time commitment.

  • Dawn BrenengenBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Real Estate Broker · Raleigh, NC · Member since 2014 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    7y

    @Chrissa Carlson  If you are not doing the rehab work yourselves, you probably won't spend an extraordinary amount of time away.  Yes, you will be searching for deals and seeing homes, but you can always bring your kid with your to that kind of stuff.  I can't tell you how many times I've had to bribe my kids to "be good" so we can fit some showings in. It doesn't always work well, but since you are the buyer, the people working with you will give you a lot more leeway with kids.  I was in the agent role, so my kids needed to be quiet  :)

    Also, once you get good at evaluating deals, you may not even go see some properties.  Build a good relationship with an agent who understands flips, and they can go take videos for you and you can decide whether you want to see it in person.  I have clients who have never stepped foot in NC, and we do everything by video.  

    During renovations, you need to stop in every few days to check on the work, but that should just take a few minutes.

  • Flipper/Rehabber · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2019 · 16 posts · 11 votes
    7y

    @Dawn Brenengen this is extremely helpful! Thanks for your insight. I'm trying to keep the long term goal in mind, but what the commitment to pursue this means for my family in the short term is making me nervous. Thanks for giving some shape what it could look like.

Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.