Lifestyle Design - What is it and how does it impact you?

[J. Martin]

@Ali Boone , @Charles McNelly, and others have talked about lifestyle design, and how it fits into their real estate investing - or should I say, how their real estate investing fits into their lifestyle design. I've always had the goal to have my real estate income on my "fix and holds" provide enough TOTALLY PASSIVE income for me to not wake up before 11AM and always be able to wear flip flops, from anywhere in the world :) More recently, I read some of Ali's blog posts, and it's a much more explicit and targeted form of something that has been less explicit in my own goals, investments, and work flow..

For now, I've been outsourcing whatever I can. My handyman takes tenant calls from tenants and does repairs, and shares a google doc with his hours and materials costs. I have a Virtual Assistant in the Philippines for a lot of administrative tasks. I do some of the lease-up and supervise rehab when the purchases are done on my investments (about 1-2 per year). So I spend some time on RE, but have been decreasing that time as my portfolio has grown. (Almost $1MM in gross RE assets, $100K+ in gross rents, 7 units, managing a few more on JV deals). And for now, a full time-ish job. (Although not working for the month of June ;)

It's been going smoothly enough that I was able to take a month and a half off late last year to travel Europe, without any problems - and used the money I didn't pay a property manager that year, to do it.. But I would probably hire a PM if I trusted them to do as good a job as myself (I have local investments). 

Ali, Charles, 

Care to share with others about what lifestyle design is to you, how your investment style fits into it, any tips for others, and any tips for my situation? 

Thanks in advance!