When did/do you know its time to quit your job?

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I knew when I became too busy to do both things at once -- real estate and my full time job. I had to pick one or the other. So I chose real estate. I also had a spreadsheet I worked out all the numbers on, and went over and over that spreadsheet double, triple checking everything to make sure I was ready. It's been almost a year now and I have not regretted leaving my job even once.

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@Chance Cooper first of all thank you for your service! I am at $6000/month cash flow, we financed most of our properties though. I paid cash for my first one then financed the rest, we have a total of 20 properties which took us about 3 years to buy. Like @Travis Beehler I have a good paying W2 job which helped get us started....

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Hi Chance,My personal goal is to be able to have my current salary, after taxes, RELIABLY, coming in every month, to be able to think about such a thing. Plus, have about 50-100k in savings for emergencies.However, I know me, and I'll want even more money coming in after taxes to think about retirement from my current job. Luckily, I'm in a high paying job that I like, with people who are easy to get along with.So, what I would do if I were in your shoes, is figure out how much you'll need per month after taxes, and shoot for that goal on a regular monthly basis. It would really suck to have a $5,000 net month, quit your job, then the next month have a $3,000 month and have to eat the loss.Here's my monthly goals to help out:Current age: 40.5Current net monthly income from rentals $1,000 (roughly)First goal: Replace monthly income (roughly $6k per month)Second goal: $10k per monthThird goal: $25k per month.I think once I hit around $40-$50k per month net, will be the time for me to think about retirement. If my calculations are right, with my current amount of rentals and their profits, I should be able to hit $50k in September 2024. :) But, that means I'm throwing every dollar of rent towards the next down payment, and my bonus checks towards down payments as well. Because "shit happens", I think that's likely a pie in the sky estimate. :) Hope that helps!Travis

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Account Closed How long did it take you to get up to 5k profit monthly? I think once you get the first house paid off the others will come very fast because now the rent is compounding. You have one house paying for the next along with what you can put towards it. Id love to hear your story.

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@Chance CooperMy husband is active duty Navy. My dream is that when he is to be able to retire on the cash flow form the houses and his military retirement (god/navy) willing. We have used our transient life style to invest in real estate. We buy personal properties and self manage them when we leave. We also buy pure rentals that we rent out too from day one. We live off one income and save the other!I love your goal! We don't do cheaper houses because we find the slightly more expensive ones highly leverage being paid on over the next 14 years meets our goals!Look forward to connecting with you!

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Bill Sargeson 20 properties Cash Flowing $6k a month in 3 years is very impressive. I have similar goals, 10 properties by the end of year 2 and double that by year 3. What market do you invest in if you don't mind me asking? Do you use PM or manage yourself? I like the idea of not having an end date in mind as to when you should quit your job rather have your Real Estate business be the judge of that. Once it either becomes too much work for managing on nights and weekends and you're rental income is at least equal to or greater than your W2 income then you should consider going full time. Otherwise, and this is just my way of thinking, you're losing the ability to compound future income by taking away the easiest funding source you could possibly have, your W2 job. Glad to see so many people are able to Cash Flow as much as you do with as few properties as you have. Excellent business minds create excellent cash flow.

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@Chance CooperHello Chance. What a terrific question! I can not resist responding to your question. You will absolutely know when to quit your job. When you reach the point that you can sustain your life style by doing the work you love, you will naturally make the choice about what you want to do with a job. If you are enjoying your current job and real estate investing is a casual interest, then you have choices in that scenario. One of the best things human beings have going for themselves is the ability to make decisions and to choose what to do next. No one can make that decision for you and the good news is, no one should. You get to decide about your business ventures. Please tell us in what area of real estate investing you are involved. What are you bringing to the investor table? Whatever it is, we all want to see what you have to offer.

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Well we just paid off our first rental house so I am ready to see how well I do in the next 2-3 years. My intent is that this one that is paid off will help me get the next couple of houses rather fast.

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Wow @Bill Sargeson thats pretty fast. 20 houses in 3 years, great job!

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I did some flips between the buy and holds and was able to get to 5k a month in a bit under 5 years. Ended up selling my CA properties before the crash and invested in other less pricey markets. I got the timing right :) was pretty lucky.