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. :-)
