Is REI really a *part-time* possibility?

Very good post Vincent,

Being a starting investor pretty much doing RE full-time right now has helped alot simply because starting takes time just learning what you need to know and figuring out which niche is right for you. For me personally it's been really hard getting my "power-team" together... in particular the RE agent... although I do have a few working with me "finding" a property. But I can already see how eventually the business itself will pretty much be automated with buyers lined-up... and sellers pouring in wanting to sell... At that point your job won't be as much as "Find sellers and buyers" it'll be more "matching them together". Also starting out like me... I'm very cautious of making offers right now (I've made 4 so far), but just viewing it as 1 closer to making a deal is better than giving up. But even though I have the time to invest more now I'd try to do the same even if I was working... So like with anything else you'd have to set time aside for it... It is a job

Yes, this business absolutely can be started up on a part-time basis. However, I feel that the limited amount of time will slow the process (but not STOP the process).

An investor I've been working with in my area has built up his business on a part-time basis. So, I've seen it first hand.

The better organized you are, and the more focused you are, the faster things will come together for you (this is true whether you are part-time OR full-time).

My wife Jill & I have been living as real estate investors since 2000, & while we would be considered full time investors; we only spend part time hours. If we were to calculate, we work about 3 months out of the year. That is doing buy, fix, & flip; mostly REOs or Probates. Now we have done lease options on properties we own "free & clear" & have also had rentals.
I retired from owning a home heating oil company in NJ in 2000 & figured
since I was giving up a company that made a few million a year I sure as hell
did not want to start over working full time again. I agree the more you put into something, the more you will get out of it. I think real estate investing
is the best part time business with the most money making potential around!

You could make a list of what you will do for the week. I think you could easily get things done, but you do have to be available to take your calls and call people. Calling people can be scheduled, but it is best to take calls on the spot.

Great stuff so far, everybody!

Keep the comments coming!

Vincent

the same way you would if you were doing it full time.

Sorry if im not being as clear or eloquent, and I can't seem to give a long version of my answer, but in reality, you have half the time to invest, just work twice as smart.

When I say work smart, I say have a plan and commit to that plan; if you only have one hour per evening, do something that you can say was worth that hour;

1. Stay off this site

2. Know the market you want to work on

3. Know the clientele you plan to market to

4. How do you plan to market

5. What's your Plan B???

Not everything you do will reap immediate rewards, but you have to stay on it, and if after time, you're not getting the results you crave, alter your plans or methods.

No guarantees in this, just the fact that you can look in the mirror and say you did the best you could.

I've found that the "learning" part time can be the biggest obstacle that a new investor can face. Once the preliminary learning is done, the rest can be set up to go more smoothly.
I learned, part time, while running another company but having some RE in my background (My Mother was a RE agent when I was growing up.) Unfortunately, I was doing my learning at the end of my day which was about 2 a.m.-3 a.m. so my retention was faulty. I needed to go over things 2 or 3 times before it would stick. (It took way longer for me than it should have so I would recommend you devote more time in the beginning to learning.) But now, I see a situation and can analyze it rather quickly.

The key, it seems, either part time or full time is to use OPM, OPT and OPC. (Other people's money, Other people's Time and Other people's connections.) The last 2 can get you your power team in a hurry because people wanting you to succeed will give you names of the people they like to work with which will make the process go much quicker and smoother. Considering that there are a number of people that need to be on your team, my suggestion is that if you can't find one particular member (an Agent, for example) find a RE lawyer or title company (for another example) first and ask them who they like to use. This is just one way to shorten your searching time.

You hear so much about automating this and automating that but the reality is, at least to me, Real Estate is a people business and you need to talk, and more importantly listen, to people at some point. Automation sort of depersonalizes the situation and makes it harder to get the deal done (In my opinion.) I believe that someone calling you would much rather hear a human voice say " How can I help you?" over a machine saying " At the tone, please leave your message." Once again, that's my opinion

Partnering is another way to achieve full time success with part time work. I have worked with a few fellow DGers and found some to have been a help and some have not. Face it, not everyone on this site will become successful investors and will drop out. However, if YOU are serious, you need to put in your time and if you can, find a way to be an asset to someone who IS DOING what you want to do. Even if it is "grunt work" it's a step forward to being a success.

Can you do RE part time? Yes you can. Will it be easy? I don't believe so... but the reward is worth the effort

Hope this helps...

Andy Sager
DG's AndyS
CFIC member

Andy and Elix,

Valuable stuff, both of you! Keep it coming, guys!

Vincent

Its all about puting in "quality time" for how much time you can put in, Jim

you must sacrifice something.

STOP watching TV, unless its DG dvds, this gives you 3-4 hrs a day!

You HAVE to LEARN- just focus on learning about ONE (wholeasaling,assignments, fix/flips, etc) and dont waste time trying to learn EVERYTHING about REI when you're starting out , it causes "information overload", its overwhelming and you'll most likely quit.

Great point, Mike! I think information overload is one of the biggest detriments to new investors. They worry that the strategy they're using isn't working so they have to move on to something else, before they give it enough time to bear fruit.