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Updated about 9 years ago, 11/06/2015
Did you quit your job? We wanna brag about you!
It's been a topic mentioned extensively on the forums, podcast, blog, and in our webinars.
EVERYONE seems to want to quit their job with real estate. We know it's possible, we've seen it done. What we don't have is a forum thread full of responses to this question. Let's hear it folks - who successfully quit their jobs through real estate??
Specifically, if you've quit your job largely due to you success in real estate investing, please answer some of the following questions for the community:
What were you doing before, and what do you do now (professionally)?
Is your passive or business income from real estate the same, greater, or lesser than when you were working a job?
Do you "live the dream" and travel/vacation year round, do you focus on building your empire to ever greater heights, or do you pursue some other passion?
How long did it take you to build up a real estate portfolio sizable enough for you to "retire" on?
How much time does your real estate business consume per month?
Looking forward to hearing the responses from some of those folks that have succeeded with this!
We'd like to brag about your accomplishments to the world! Let us know and let us share your success to inspire others!
I must be a scrooge since I have 16, 17 in 2 days, and don't want to give up my w2
I was a medical student and dropped out summer of 2009 when the real estate market crashed and I saw a great opportunity.
I've never had a job but what I make now is enough for me to retire on.
I'm trying to build a bigger empire while also trying to figure out what some of my other passions are.
The market really crashed this down turn in the Inland Empire in California. I was able to have enough income to retire in about 2
years.
I have a great team and so now I spend very little time in the day to day. I spend most of my time meeting wholesalers and agents.
I haven't retired, but as of last year I finally could have done so. I'm one of the odd ducks on BP that happens to enjoy what I do for my "day job" intersected with being pretty good at it.
What were you doing before, and what do you do now (professionally)?
I was/am/will be a Corporate Finance guy with a side order of IT. I've started at the bottom and rose through the ranks in both careers, IT first. Long term goal is overall CEO or CFO of a Fortune 100 company. Still a ways to go yet.
Is your passive or business income from real estate the same, greater, or lesser than when you were working a job?
I set out to replace my income with real estate almost 15 years ago when my IT salary plateaued. I went back for my MBA at the same time, so while I've been carefully building a bigger and bigger portfolio the whole time, my W2 income so far has actually outpaced my RE investment income.
Do you "live the dream" and travel/vacation year round, do you focus on building your empire to ever greater heights, or do you pursue some other passion?
I live half the dream; I'm an Expat with my company so they send me all over the world. My time is still theirs though outside of my vacation days, but my position allows me to be really flexible and independent.
How long did it take you to build up a real estate portfolio sizable enough for you to "retire" on?
~14 years. I took it slow (buy and paydown vs lever up) and ate a recession in the middle. Also, my target is generating enough income to live really well, not just survive. I know that's ok with many people on here and other Finance blogs but just not what I'm after.
How much time does your real estate business consume per month?
Almost nothing. Probably 3-4 emails per month to my team and no phone calls, unless I'm acquiring something - which I find exciting so I don't even notice.
I've enjoyed reading the success stories here and all across Bigger Pockets, and I'm ready to chime in. I just went "full-time" April 1st, so my answers below may require updates over time. It'll be fun to see how close reality conforms to my initial plan (i.e., initial guesswork).
What were you doing before, and what do you do now (professionally)?
Most recently, I was a global business analyst for a global gold mining company. I was there for over nine years, and it was a good, mostly interesting job that came with some international travel. Just not how I wanted to spend my days long-term.
My "job" now is to figure out how I'll continue to grow my real estate portfolio, since the investment model I used to get where I'm at, is no longer viable in the market I've been in.
My immediate plans are to travel full-time, while I figure out a new direction for my real estate investing. Spending more time with the Bigger Pockets community is, of course, now a top priority for me.
Is your passive or business income from real estate the same, greater, or lesser than when you were working a job?
This is an interesting one. My passive income is much less than my salary and bonus was, when I compare them before taxes. Because of the tax rates and benefits around investment income, my take home from the RE alone will not be that much less than the W2 after taxes. Of course that can vary depending on maintenance costs, vacancies, and the other variables for land lording that don't exist for W2 income. Additionally, I'll need to pay for my own health insurance now.
My mantra for now is that it's more about what I spend, than what I earn. That said, I'll live and travel in comfort, and still be able to put money in the bank.
Do you "live the dream" and travel/vacation year round, do you focus on building your empire to ever greater heights, or do you pursue some other passion?
Yes. All of that.
Again, I'm just starting out in as a full-time investor, but my vision has always been to generate passive income that would allow me control of my time, and to live anywhere in the world. I love travel, and have rented my primary residence, sold or given away whatever I couldn't fit into a 10x10 storage unit, and purchased a one-way ticket to Medellin Colombia for the end of April.
I plan to spend extended periods of time stationary in some countries to learn foreign languages, vagabonding through other countries, with stints in the USA for fly fishing road trips and visits with friends and family. My passion has long been aviation, so at various times I'll station myself where I can fly gliders during peak seasons.
Amidst all that, I intend to somehow continue growing my portfolio.
Friends tell me I schedule far too much activity into an allotted time frame. Not sure why they say that...
How long did it take you to build up a real estate portfolio sizable enough for you to "retire" on?
Seven years, almost to the day. I closed on my first rental property in May 2008, but it wasn't until August 2009 when I changed to the investment model that is now paying my way. In fact, I no longer own the first rental I bought, and had backed out of a pending second deal in the nick of time, thanks to a last-minute consultation with an investor who went on to mentor me, saving me from myself and making my early "retirement" possible. (Brittney and Tait, I owe my life to you. Or at least my liberty.)
However... I seriously doubt I could recreate that timeframe in today's market, because I was buying during the "crash," and then rents shot up. While I'd love to convince you that I'm some kind of market timing genius, it was just dumb luck that I had a bucket of money when prices crashed in Denver. The "bucket" of "investment capital" was from selling a house I bought in 1995, in an up-and-coming neighborhood before it really cranked over (purchase for $95k in Highlands Square, for you Denverites). Again, although tempted to reassure you of my Nostradamus-like vision, I wasn't ahead of the curve on the Highlands either, as it was already being spoke of as "the next" big neighborhood when I bought there.
How much time does your real estate business consume per month?
TBD, but I'll guess one to ten hours per week to start. As I mentioned above, my job now is to figure out my next moves in RE. Once I have some ideas about a new investment model, I'll need to park myself in whatever location I plan to buy property, so I can get to know the market and community, and look for properties. Even if I select an area I'm familiar with, I think I'll need to be there to be comfortable buying. I imagine I'll be working closer to 20 hours or more per week whenever that is going on. Until then, my time on RE is limited to tinkering and learning.
I do my own bookkeeping, but have a property management company running all of my properties. I hired the property management company just over a year ago, and have been extremely hands on while getting things dialed in with them. They tolerated me well, and I'm feeling good about their work. Going forward, I'll have much less interaction with them. I'll continue to handle my Quickbooks data entry and reconciliation. That's a control freak thing, so spare yourself the entirely justifiable frustration of failing to convince me that my time is better spent elsewhere. You're right, 100%. And I'll continue doing data entry so I have some sort of connection to the day-to-day operations. :-)
Originally posted by @Dawn Anastasi:
Originally posted by @Jose Perez:
How many properties did you acquire before you quit your job?
I had just closed on my 9th property (using conventional financing) earlier in the month when I gave my notice. I closed on my 10th in April, before I was officially gone. Then I acquired 2 more last year after I had left.
If you don't mind me asking Dawn, what's your rough net per month? 10 properties there might be a fortune in cash flow vs. where in other places like NY and LA, it might be not nearly enough. Thanks!
Travis
Originally posted by @Travis Beehler:
If you don't mind me asking Dawn, what's your rough net per month? 10 properties there might be a fortune in cash flow vs. where in other places like NY and LA, it might be not nearly enough. Thanks!
My net cash flow per property varies, because some I do have a mortgage on, and some I do not. My highest property is about $500/month. My lowest is $90/month, but that will change when I have a rent increase coming in the next 3 months. I actually have rent increases on 4 units coming this month.
I didn't quit. I was laid off in December of 2013. Merry Christmas right...so I thought. Now I will gladly thank the company that eliminated the contract and laid me off.
What were you doing before, and what do you do now (professionally)?
I worked as an athletic trainer onsite at a coal mine. I spend a majority of my time looking for investment properties and managing them. I also own a wellness center. In the past I worked for two NFL teams and in physical therapy clinics.
Is your passive or business income from real estate the same, greater, or lesser than when you were working a job?
My passive income is greater since being laid off.
Do you "live the dream" and travel/vacation year round, do you focus on building your empire to ever greater heights, or do you pursue some other passion?
I do not travel much. I am taking my wife to Aruba in May, but I mainly reinvest most of the money into other properties.
How long did it take you to build up a real estate portfolio sizable enough for you to "retire" on?
I am still working on this. Since being laid off I've acquired 8 units.
How much time does your real estate business consume per month?
Varies mainly on the season. Winter requires more than spring, fall, and summer. Yearly average that includes looking for properties and managing existing ones is approx. 20 hours per week. Probably could be less hours but I enjoy looking for properties and putting deals together.
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#1 Multi-Family and Apartment Investing Contributor
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- Santa Rosa, CA
I left the world of "working for the man" about 12 years ago. I've never looked back.
What were you doing before, and what do you do now (professionally)? I was in law enforcement. Working nights and weekends which was perfect because I had most of the business week off. Now I invest in real estate professionally. It was a business on the side until I quit the job, so quitting was really a decision of whether I wanted one job or two.
Is your passive or business income from real estate the same, greater, or lesser than when you were working a job? All of the above. My income dwarfed the old secure government job until the worst real estate depression in history took root and then my REI lost me more money in two years than most people make in a lifetime. Fortunately that was short lived because by 2009 my business grew larger than I'd have ever imagined and I'd made back a lot of what I'd lost. What's important to remember is that investing in real estate as a career is not the same as a regular paycheck from a 9-5. There is risk, variation of income, and all kinds of other things to worry about.
Do you "live the dream" and travel/vacation year round, do you focus on building your empire to ever greater heights, or do you pursue some other passion? I focus on building to greater heights with the added balance of travelling wherever I want whenever I want. A couple of big vacations per year with a few short trips is about all I need because I love what I do and working isn't like a job to me.
How long did it take you to build up a real estate portfolio sizable enough for you to "retire" on? That's a trick question because I wouldn't consider what I do as retirement. I built my REI business over 13 years or so before pulling the plug on the paycheck. I had a couple dozen flips and a few holds under my belt by that point. As a flipper it wasn't about portfolio size it was about deal flow. Nowadays, I still do a lot of flips but also have built a $30 million rental portfolio. That means nothing however, because as you grow you have employees to pay and investors to share the profits with. Could I stop and just do nothing for the rest of my life and be OK? Sure, but it isn't going to happen because there's no reason to stop doing something that I like doing. I won't stop flying airplanes, I won't stop going to Hawaii, and I won't stop buying, owning and selling real estate.
How much time does your real estate business consume per month? I spend about 6 or 7 hours per day at the office, but do a little work from home before I get there, then a little more after I leave. Often, that "little more" might mean working until 11PM so the hours can get pretty long and I almost always do some work on the weekends and even while on vacation. Most of my out of the office work can be from a laptop or iPad while watching crappy reality TV so it's not like I'm spending my life "on the job", thankfully.
I had many different jobs; plumber, auto mechanic, landscape business, truck yard maintenance, manufacturing assembler, janitor, electronics tech, tech manager. Now I basically do real estate deals.
Much greater
Living the dream is going to be different for everyone. I love to be active. I hike challenging locations, race marathons, play lots of softball and golf. Travel is not something that I enjoy as much as these other activities. In my city I can do all these things year around.
I have recently traded many of my apartments in for a strip center and other NNN deals. I plan on sitting out for a while and will watch what happens in the market.
3 years. I also got hit hard by the crash. In 2007, I had over 1000 apartment units. The cashflow was very high. All of that was wiped out by the crash. What was not taken was the knowledge of how to do deals. I was able to come back to a comfortable level with a bit of hard work.
If you don't mind how many rental properties do you currently own?
I'm a newbie to the 'I quit my job' discussion. Just left in the middle of February 2015. I think I provide a more realistic view to most who are considering it than the people who built up a big portfolio before taking the leap.
What were you doing before, and what do you do now (professionally)?
I was a commercial appraiser (anything and everything outside of residential) right out of college for 4 years and then worked for an apartment developer as an analyst for about 2.5 years. I am now a full-time stay at home dad to my golden retriever, and I also flip houses.
Is your passive or business income from real estate the same, greater, or lesser than when you were working a job?
As of today, I have made $0 in income since I left my job. While this was not fully expected, I did anticipate a few months of this since my checks from selling houses don't come nearly as often as my W-2 check came. However, once we really get the ball rolling they should be coming in much more frequently (I hope).
Do you "live the dream" and travel/vacation year round, do you focus on building your empire to ever greater heights, or do you pursue some other passion?
I wake up everyday focused on the business and what I can do to grow. I have more time than I ever had in the past to take vacations but now that it's my own business that would be the one not getting the attention it needs while I am away, it makes it very difficult to take any time off. I will have to prove to myself that I can make this business work before I will be taking any vacations. However, living the dream doesn't mean waking up in Bora Bora. I get to wake up every day and do whatever I want to do. Right now it's working on my business, next year it might be working on a new business, the year after it might be something completely different. To me that's living the dream.
How long did it take you to build up a real estate portfolio sizable enough for you to "retire" on?
I'm nowhere near the point where I can retire on my real estate. I left one job for another but the new one is one I enjoy doing and can build to something much bigger. I've actually put myself in a worse position to be able to build a portfolio of rentals since I cannot get any sort of conventional financing for a couple of years now that I am self-employed. This was something I was willing to sacrifice though since the trade-off is being my own boss.
How much time does your real estate business consume per month?
The stress and constant thought of needing to make this work consumes about 100% of my time. Actual work is much less. It's interesting how much harder it becomes to manage your time when you don't have specific working hours of 9-5. Leaving my job has given me the time to focus on my business and look for additional ways of producing streams of income. It's an exciting and scary time of my life but even with all of the stress, I could never go back.
What were you doing before, and what do you do now (professionally)?
Race car Mechanic while getting my Engineering Degree From A&M
Graduated and went into Sales. When i quit I was making a fat paycheck running a 5 state sales territory for a large specialty manufacturing company. I quit when having he job was hurting my business growth and my sanity. That was Feb 2014.
Is your passive or business income from real estate the same, greater, or lesser than when you were working a job?
Greater. Founded in late 2012. In 2013 we Purchased $2.9M in real estate, 2014 we Purchased $6.3M, and this year we are well on our way to over $12M in assets purchased. Our team is growing, our market share is growing, and this year we will start 1 or 2 other ventures as well.
Do you "live the dream" and travel/vacation year round, do you focus on building your empire to ever greater heights, or do you pursue some other passion?
I will take around a month off this year, the same as I did last year. I love traveling but its not an escape of the business so much as another adventure to love. I wake up every day ready to push myself and the company another step closer to our goal.
How long did it take you to build up a real estate portfolio sizable enough for you to "retire" on?
Retirement to me is not the ultimate goal. I just want to wake up every day and look forward to what I have going on.
How much time does your real estate business consume per month?
I try not to work weekends so I can spend time with family, racing and with friends. Otherwise i work from 8-6 or later every day. A few times a week I'm networking in the evenings or going to dinner meetings.
What were you doing before, and what do you do now (professionally)?
I was working in finance as an analyst at an investment bank. Had that job for about 3 1/2 years.
Is your passive or business income from real estate the same, greater, or lesser than when you were working a job?
My first full year out I more or less matched my prior business income. However, about half of that was from consulting work my former company hired me to do. The other half was from actual real estate transactions. This year (my 2nd full year), I would say matching or slightly higher income than my prior job is a realistic goal, although finding houses has been a challenge so who knows.
Do you "live the dream" and travel/vacation year round, do you focus on building your empire to ever greater heights, or do you pursue some other passion?
I'm mainly focused on my business, but work less hours than at my old job and take more vacations. That is mainly due to the fact that my old job was very demanding and required long hours... not because I'm traveling all the time. I do have one new hobby I recently started that would have been difficult to maintain at my prior job.
How long did it take you to build up a real estate portfolio sizable enough for you to "retire" on?
I'm way to young to have retirement on my radar. However, I'm focusing on making my flips much less labor intensive on my part. The first few ones pretty much demanded all my attention on a daily basis. Working on changing that going forward. Only been doing this 1.5 years now, so not thinking about retirement.
How much time does your real estate business consume per month?
I haven't gotten my businesses consistent yet (constant deal flow with flips, same routine throughout the week), so it really varies. So the last flip I worked on, I probably worked 50 to 60 hours per week. I had a 2 month gap where I didn't own anything and was just looking... my work week probably went down to 35 to 40 hours.
One thing I learned so far though is that how smart you work is much more important than how hard or long you work.
"
I also got hit hard by the crash. In 2007, I had over 1000 apartment units. The cashflow was very high. All of that was wiped out by the crash."
For my education, can you please elaborate what happened? I know the crash happened in 2008, but how did you lose your apartment units.
Thanks.
What were you doing before, and what do you do now (professionally)?
For the past 7 years I was the real estate development officer for a small company in Texas that took care of people with Alzheimer's and dementia. Additional I served on the executive team and had a minority interest in the company. The company sold and my official end to W-2 income was Feb. 26, 2015, however I was doing real estate full time since November. I set one year's worth of salary aside from my equity payout so that I can continue to reinvest 100% of my earnings back into my real estate business for another year.
In the past, I have used my w-2 income for food, fire and water and my real estate flipping income for wealth creation. Not that I am doing real estate investing full time I have shifted my flipping business income to pay for food, fire and water and I birddog investment opportunities for a couple of real estate funds and investors in exchange for a minority equity position for wealth creation.
Is your passive or business income from real estate the same, greater, or lesser than when you were working a job?
God willing, my income from the flipping business will far exceed my W-2 income. My income projections show that this year's income from the flip business will slightly exceed last year's w-2 income. Year to date I am half way there, so I am a little ahead of schedule. With that said, we were blessed with a strong first 3 months of the year. Deals definitely are harder to come buy so we started outsourcing our direct marketing campaign this month to increase quantity and consistency.
Do you "live the dream" and travel/vacation year round, do you focus on building your empire to ever greater heights, or do you pursue some other passion?
I am definitely living the dream, but I do not travel year round. I am much more focused on reinvesting money back into assets right now more than spending it on liabilities. My ultimate "wants" are big and at times do not even seem realistic so I just focus on doing all I can now and hope the snowball effect is bigger than I can imagine.
How long did it take you to build up a real estate portfolio sizable enough for you to "retire" on?
Not there yet. I bought my first real estate investment in 2006. I got serious about it in 2010. My number is $8MM in unencumbered, cash flowing assets to live on comfortably without having to generate additional income from other sources. My plan is to have that done within 10 years.
How much time does your real estate business consume per month?
I spend about 6 hrs a day on it and at times wish it was more.
Originally posted by @Jai Reddy:
"
I also got hit hard by the crash. In 2007, I had over 1000 apartment units. The cashflow was very high. All of that was wiped out by the crash."
For my education, can you please elaborate what happened? I know the crash happened in 2008, but how did you lose your apartment units.
Thanks.
It is a long story. It is also one that you would have needed to be from Phoenix and in the apartment business to understand. I can explain it, but it is not the same as experiencing it.
I had a lot of deals going on so the numbers may not be exact and might change depending on the time period being referenced.
I had been on a major apartment purchasing spree in Arizona in 2004 and 2005. Around 2006, I decided that it was time to stop buying here as the prices were getting too high. I sold a couple hundred units and refinanced the remaining 475 units. At the time I called it my "line in the sand". These deals were strong performers and I felt like they were my base.
I had quite a bit of money remaining so I put some away and put some towards a 108 unit deal in Houston. It was not performing well so I bought it on a temporary (two year) bridge loan.
While that was going on, I was busy raising money for more deals in Houston. I bought a 125 unit and a 324 unit deal using investor funds.
The hurricane came to Texas and almost wiped out the 108 unit deal. It took the roofs off and filled them with water. No problem as insurance would cover that. By the time the 450K in repairs were completed and the property was filled back up, my loan came due. The bottom had dropped out of the finance market and there was no place to get a loan. Even though I had never missed a payment, the lender foreclosed.
While this was going on, the economy was dropping a bomb on Arizona. People just started moving out of apartments or simply quit paying. I read a report that said that the vacancy rate had dropped from 6% to 15%. What a load of crap that was. It was well over 20% for sure. Nobody could attract residents without 2 month move-in specials. People would move into the special and then never pay any rent. Some apartments would not evict because of the cost or they would pay tenants to leave. They would leave and do the same thing to the next property because landlords would not put this on their record. This is one reason that I despise the pay-to-leave strategy that some people employ.
Gross incomes on my properties dropped by more than 50%. I was lucky to pay expenses for a while. There was nothing left to give the lenders. I fought like crazy for a couple of years and finally got the income back up to where the full payment could be made. I had to put all my reserves into the property and had nothing left to catch up the arrears that had accumulated. This is when the lenders foreclosed. They waited until the properties were cashflowing again.
I managed to salvage the 324 unit in Houston and sold it last year. The investors were paid back a decent amount of money and were happy. I did not make anything as all the proceeds went to years of preferred returns.
It was not fun losing all of these properties but there was a lot to learn from it. I was already buying again while the others were being foreclosed on.
Long story.... :)
@Steve Olafson,
Thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed answer. There is a lot I've learned and I will file away your story in my 'revisit often' folders.
Looks like you had some courageous failures due to acts of God (Hurricane), where no amount of reserves are enough to keep paying all your interest and taxes when your cashflow is non-existent for months together. Yet you are back in this recovery dealing the same size of deals, maybe with borrowed cash. I know one's track record gets them funding, but don't past losses work against your record? Or is it that lenders are risk averse but still want to make money - they just need to find someone with the experience and stomach for risk to go out and make them money?
I had to get credit partners for a couple of deals until the lenders had faith in me again. :)
Originally posted by @Edward Sitver:
My mantra for now is that it's more about what I spend, than what I earn. That said, I'll live and travel in comfort, and still be able to put money in the bank.
Every few years I make a "budget" It's really more of a 25 year life projection. I did my last one this past December and we were on track until I realized I had been neglecting charity.
I always start with how much I want to spend and when. Then it is just a matter of adjusting investment strategies until the math works. For the next few years we have an aggressive acquisition strategy to cover the 2 million in charitable donations I added to the budget over the next 20 years.
I haven't been this excited about real estate since I was shopping for my first property
Enjoy your new retirement Edward!
I have enough cash flow to quit my job, if it was just me (about 2,500). But with my GF, it will definitely take longer. We spend 5-6k a month combined.
still working to get out of the list
What were you doing before, and what do you do now (professionally)?
I transitioned out of employment in 2012 into full time RE investing for 2013 and 2014. I am now full time retired but still work, and I live in the south of France with my wife and three young children. It is a gorgeous gorgeous place here.
Starting a working life in 1999 I was in the military working in disaster management; then a whitewater raft guide; then international aid worker; then writer; and then paramedic, all over a span of 13 years.
Over that span of jobs but especially as a paramedic and before that as an aid worker in Sierra Leone I have seen everything in life without having actively participated in war. A paramedic is at every event nobody wants to have to be at.
One really weird thing about being an REI investor full time now is that in both roles I would enter an apartment (hundreds of apts over the years in both roles), spend 5 minutes assessing the situation and walk out.
Is your passive or business income from real estate the same, greater, or lesser than when you were working a job?
More. I get the same per month in cashflow but that doesn't count the large lump sum cheques that arrive here and there.
Do you "live the dream" and travel/vacation year round, do you focus on building your empire to ever greater heights, or do you pursue some other passion?
I am doing all of these things; I live year round here in France and my family is becoming completely bilingual, we just came back from a week's vacation in Sardinia and we expect to travel a LOT. On the side I am building the empire as it can be done remotely now for the most part. I've taken up spear fishing and do a lot of hiking.
How long did it take you to build up a real estate portfolio sizable enough for you to "retire" on?
Two to three years. But also 5 years spent paying off our house before that that we later refinanced to buy our first apt bldg.
How much time does your real estate business consume per month?
10--to 20 hours
