All Forum Posts by: Carlos M.

It's absolutely a case by case basis. IT really depends on how much you sacrificed to achieve the wealth and what you do with it. I have met a handful of wealthy individuals and they are miserable. All they care about is their wealth. Their health isn't important, they don't go out and make memories and they have next to zero relationships. In my opinion that life wouldn't be worth the sacrifice. My wife and I grew up in extreme poverty and had our daughter when we were 17 and still in high school. We decided to invest into real estate in our early 30s. We worked our W-2 and did real estate for 10 years. During that time it was not uncommon to miss holidays, b day parties, work 14 hour days 7 days   a week. That was our sacrifice. Now we are 16 years into it and have an 8 figure net worth. My wife and I work about 1 hour a day and spend most of our time on health. My wife's mother ended up having a massive brain tumor last year and we were able to be there for her every single day. We spent weeks in different towns to be with her while she was having, and recovering from surgery. My father passed away very suddenly last year. I am able to spend how ever much time I want with my mom helping her get through this. We are spending every other weekend in Virginia as that's where my 4 month old grandson lives. My wife will also travel down alone to spend a week at a time with our daughter and grandson. Truthfully I haven't done much in the business since my dad passed as I'm still mourning his passing. At this point we NEVER miss a holiday, wedding, b day party or anniversary. We spend our summer weekends on our boat down at the bay surrounded by friends and family. I also mentor 7 friends, family (free). My best student  crossed the 1 million mark in net worth and he is in his early 30s! This is what makes me happy! Soooooo, If you ask me if it was worth the sacrifice, I would say absolutely! I would do it all over in a second. I couldn't imagine telling my mom I can't afford to help you, or my wife not being able to be there for her mom, or not being able to see my grandson when ever we want. Now it's truly about helping and making memories with friends and family, helping them grow in health and wealth,  and working on our health daily. We are also planning to start spending winters in warmer climates... I have never been more content with my life. 

Quote from @Theresa Harris:

Get it in writing, change the locks, get the place listed and find new tenants.  Follow the step for the deposit-even if it is to send a registered letter to their last known address stating that the deposit was used for outstanding rent and whatever damages or cleaning was needed (itemize it).

 The only additional thing we do is send them to collections. IT's pretty much a lost cause but if nothing else it will let the next Landlord know the skipped out on you. 

Quote from @Chris Seveney:

Quote from @Carlos M.:

I just added up all my interest paid in 2024. It came out to $563,313! 

What am I doing wrong, " Dave Ramsey"   Or

What am I doing right , Grant Cardone?

What say you?

 we paid $2.4M... It really depends. ITs not what you paid in interest, its how much did you make? If you paid 563k and did not make money yes thats a problem. If you made $1M thats great. 

We certainly did not net 1 million this year but we did okay and actually had our best year. My focus is shifting from cash flow to equity management as well as our portfolio mix. We are getting a terrible return on our equity but I guess that happens when you are hovering around a 50% global LTV. 

I just added up all my interest paid in 2024. It came out to $563,313! 

What am I doing wrong, " Dave Ramsey"   Or

What am I doing right , Grant Cardone?

What say you?

@Christopher Morris

I am one of the fortunate ones that has retired from my w-2 and now do real estate full time. But I’m 16 years into the game and did all of the maintenance, renovations and management myself for the first 10 years. It very common for my wife and I to work 7 days a week

Between rentals and our real estate business. But now we are both full time real estate investors. We do have a full time maintenance man, and still self

Manage. So it’s possible but you have to be willing to sacrifice for years.

The truth is, It takes about 7-10 years to replace your w-2income. The good news is you will be able to get debt on properties easier than someone who is making $50k per year assuming you don't have a bunch of bad debt. It will take at the very least 200 units to achieve that income goal. The ideal strategy for you depends a lot on your network and skill set. I have been investing for 15 years now and we are at 144 units We still don't net $500k. We are getting close though. We focused on smaller deals 4-6 units for the first couple years. Then moved into 6-15 units and now we are looking at 20-50 units complexes. Everything we did had a value add piece to it. Up until 2 years ago I did all the work myself so the renovations were a fraction of the cost. This allows us to have a 50% LTV in just a couple short years. We never sold a single property. We also self manage till this day. This is hard work and by no means passive and I don't like it everyday. But real estate has afforded me a life that I never thought was possible. I Would absolutely do it all over again. If I had to change one thing I would have traded my older properties up for newer larger ones starting in years 5-7.

@Gino Barbaro

This one’s easy. Discipline!

The reason you’re are not where you want to be in health , wealth or relationships is discipline. Everyone knows what it takes to have 6 pack abs but not many people are disciplined enough in diet and exercise to have them.

The same goes for creating wealth and or financial freedom. It’s pretty basic. Live below your means increase your disposable income as much as possible and invest it while delaying gratification for as long as possible. If you do this for 10 years and reinvest ALL your profits it’s pretty hard not to be financially free.

@Rodney Love

I escaped the rat race. We started out with $60k in home equity. It took 10 years of grinding ridiculously hard. We both worked full time jobs the entire time, self managed , did all the renovations ourselves. My wife just quit her w-2 last year which is 15 years in the business. We used the Brrrr method. It can be done but it’s going to take 10 years of sacrifice, living below your means , and hustle!

@Nathan Gesner

That’s fantastic! How do you keep your cost so low ?

@Vi Prich

Sell your primary home. The real issue is If you cant pay your mortgage without the help of a rental, you bought way to much house.

Selling a rental because you can’t afford your primary is a mistake. Selling the rental because you hate being a landlord is a different story l. I would Keep the rental as it’s going to continue to go up in value, the mortgage itself at its current rate is an asset, in 10 -15 years it’s going to be worth double what it is now.