From Financial Consultant to Full-time Real Estate Investor

I got started in consulting after finishing my degree in Finance and graduating with honors to separate myself from the rest of the pack or so I thought. I quickly realized how competitive getting an entry level consulting job is. There are tens of thousands of applications for only a handful of jobs. In addition to learning how competitive the job marketplace is I also learned the power of having a network. My cousin was a former consultant and put in a referral for me. Her short two-minute email referral was all I needed to get selected for an interview in which I did very well and received a job offer. In consulting, getting a job doesn’t mean you actually start working. Once you join a firm, you have to compete again to get a project which can be even more competitive than getting the job itself. I loved the competition and took it upon myself to find the best project available. I networked like crazy and got myself staffed on an international project working in the United Arab Emirates. I lived aboard working as an expat for about a year. Looking back today (almost a decade later), that year of working aboard was my first step to building my real estate portfolio. I was able to build up my equity nest egg by saving my entire US salary, having my firm pay for my cost of living aboard, and using my pre diem plus local salary to live and travel. It was an awesome setup and I highly encourage any consultant to work overseas and build their nest egg. After that year aboard, I moved back to the states and bought my first property which was my primary residence. I still worked as a consultant (at that time) and traveled 250-300 nights a year so I rented out two bedrooms and reduced my Bay Area cost of living to $450 per month. I continued to build my equity nest egg and stayed focused on learning everything I could about real estate. When I was traveling, I usually skipped team dinners or events. I would go back to my hotel room and look at deals, underwrite opportunities, call brokers, call lenders, call property managers, call potential investors, film videos, record webinars, read, learn, and study real estate. I took action to learn, find deals, and close acquisitions because I knew building my portfolio was the most important thing I could do to control my income and eventually my time.

Long story short, I eventually purchased enough real estate assets that my monthly cashflow from real estate equaled my monthly w2 consulting paycheck so I quit my job and became a full-time real estate entrepreneur/investor. Today my company owns/controls over $220M in real estate assets. Whatever you set your mind to you can accomplish by putting in the hard work and taking action. Feel free to read my other blog posts, connect with me to ask questions, and learn more so you can achieve your dreams.

In true consultant fashion, I write this from the pool deck of The Jaffa hotel (don’t worry it’s a Marriott property) in Tel Aviv Israel. Buy real estate and see the world!