All Forum Posts by: Joel McKinney

Long story, not so short:

So I have one rental property (that I used to live in) and been wanting to grow my portfolio into a main source of income.  I am active duty Navy (enlisted), and am planning on getting out (not retiring) when my contract expires, in 2 1/2 years, with no solid plan for work at that point.  I do have a solid contact for POSSIBLY training as a home inspector when the time comes.

My mother passed away this year :(, and I have received a $20k inheritance so far, with $100k-$150k more in the works, but it will likely be several more months. I work 40 hours a week, my wife works 60-80 hours a week (she's a real estate agent that doesn't have it in her to say no to her clients, and is pessimistic of heavy investing btw). We have 3 (high maintenance) kids, that I mostly take care of by myself. That leaves me 1-3, (MAYBE 3) hours a day (M-F) to get anything done, before the kids get home from school. Right now I'm mostly trying to get my mothers estate settled, but once that is done, I want to go full court press on investing. I'd prefer to use the BRRRR method.

Any input on what a newbie can do with the 1-3 hours a day, 5 days a week?  Is that realistically enough time to see 1-2 houses a week, make 1-2 offers a month?  Economically perform the rehab while being "hands on" at all?

Thanks,

Joel

Long story short (as I can make it):

I'm 39, and still just trying to get my life in order. I have been enlisted in the Navy for 7 years. The opportunity to pursue becoming a Navy pilot has recently presented itself. I'd be making ~$80k-$140k/yr for the rest of my career and have a decent retirement in 13 years. Flying is my dream, and I got a bachelor's in it, but never had a job flying. The Navy keeps me away from family WAY too much and we'd have to move every 2-3 years, worldwide. Civilian aviation pays peanuts for the first 5 years, FYI (~$20k-$40k/yr), and once pay gets good, it'd keep me away from home just as much as the Navy.

On the other hand, my wife is a successful real estate agent and is opening her own brokerage (the Navy would make this near impossible to sustain). She has suggested that I could become a loan officer or contractor, and has connections who could train/hire me. We could bounce referrals to each other and potentially be very successful. Neither seems very interesting to me, but I'd be able to stay home with her and my 3 wonderful kids, I could still serve in the Reserves, could MAYBE fly on the side if we become successful enough, and I feel it could really help us become successful real estate investors.

We currently have one decent investment property and have done one decent flip. I have been wanting to aggressively grow our rental portfolio for the past few year, with the intention to achieve financial freedom and primary retirement income  My wife is very pessimistic/conservative, wants to focus solely on paying off ALL debt first, and hates the thought of even acquiring "good" debt. We're both stuck in the rat race, but have different strategies to get out, but neither of us thinks the other's strategy will work... As much as I love aviation, I think working in the RE industry would expose me to a lot more possible opportunities that could help change her mind and align with my financial freedom goals.

I have 3 years until my current enlistment contract is up.  Just trying to get some input from people that have grown a rental portfolio as a primary income.  Thoughts?

Long story short (as I can make it):

I'm 39, still trying to get my life in order.  I have been enlisted in the Navy for 7 years.  The opportunity to pursue becoming a Navy pilot has recently presented itself.  I'd be making ~$80k-$140k/yr for the rest of my career and have a good retirement in 13 years.  Flying is my dream, and I got a bachelor's in it, but never had a job flying.  The Navy keeps me away from family WAY too much and we'd have to move every 2-3 years, worldwide.  Civilian aviation pays peanuts for the first 5 years, FYI (~$20k-$40k/yr), and once pay gets good, it'd keep me away from home just as much as the Navy.

On the other hand, my wife is a successful real estate agent of about 4 years and is opening her own brokerage (the Navy would make this near impossible to sustain).  She has suggested that I could become a loan officer or contractor, and has connections who could train/hire me.  We could bounce referrals to each other and potentially be very successful.  Neither seems very interesting to me, but I'd be able to stay home with her and my 3 wonderful kids, I could still serve in the Reserves, could MAYBE fly on the side if we become successful enough, and I feel it could really help us become successful real estate investors.

We currently have one decent investment property and have done one decent flip.  I have been wanting to aggressively grow our rental portfolio in order to achieve financial freedom for the last few years, but my wife is very pessimistic/conservative, wants to focus solely on paying off ALL debt first, and hates the thought of even acquiring "good" debt.  We're both stuck in the rat race, but have different strategies to get out, but neither of us thinks the other's strategy will work...  As much as I love aviation, I think working in the RE industry would expose me to a lot more possible opportunities that could help change her mind and align with my financial freedom goals.

Thoughts?

Hi Craig!

Found a duplex with an in-law suite in Virginia for $300k.  Looking to rent out both sides of the duplex and live in the in-law suite by myself (I'm in the military and live apart from my family for the next year).  Property description says duplex rents for $2,685 combined, so it sounds like it could cash flow.  Just trying to figure out how to finance it with little/no money down.

I think I'm having an "AHA!" moment of creative financing, but figured it'd be a good idea to get a reality check.  Could a lease option sandwich be a viable solution?  Could I lease option, get tenants in place and then get a bank loan to pay the option?

My wife and I are currently renting out our first 3 rental properties that we have semi-passively acquired over the last 5 years.  We have made the decision that we want to collectively focus our efforts towards the long term goal of living off passive rental income.  However, we currently fully rely on our full-time jobs to support our family and pay off debt.

My wife is a real estate agent, which will greatly contribute to that goal.  However, I am in the Navy, as an aviation electronics technician.  Not quite as useful.  The plan is, some time in the next 2-5 years, for me to leave active duty, join the reserves and get in to a full-time/part-time job (preferably with flexible hours) that will contribute to our goal.

I have a possible opportunity to become a contractor's assistant, where I can learn an array of handyman skills and am thinking about getting my home inspector's license, (if anything to get knowledgeable enough to make offers that are not contingent on inspections).

Any other suggestions for jobs to look into, that would teach valuable REI knowledge/skills? Assuming all variables I can think of, I'd need to make at least $30,000/yr at this new job.

Some great info!  As a parent of 3, doing ANYTHING, while having to only deal with a full-time job sounds like a piece of cake!  With kids added to the mix, I feel like I have absolutely NO spare time, money or energy.  It's like having a second full-time job and another on-call job on top of that.  Seems like most successful investors don't have kids or don't until they were already successful.  (I've had to stop at least 25 times while typing this, for the kids).

At 32, I had just moved out of my first 4/3 house (that I own jointly with my brother) and started renting it out as my first rental. Currently 36, I only have one more rental (which I also lived in) and my wife (34 years old) is heading up our first flip, with fairly stagnant results. We have 3 kids, have lots of bad debt, make less than $100k/yr combined and work WELL over 40 hours a week at our normal jobs. So it usually seems IMPOSSIBLE to find the time, energy or money to pursue it further, but we have both decided to dedicate ourselves towards the long-term goal of transitioning into successful, full-time investors. Hopefully before age 50. You are not alone. Hang in there, and best of luck!