The Business of Being in Business

Just after turning 30 I rounded into 2017 with a fresh idea of being in business. Although I was now reaching for my potential, rather than making the best of my current reality.

Evaluating where I was personally at, and the vehicles I could use to reach my potential, or rather close the gap between my reality and potential, I looked at all ways of making money. I did not look at money for the sake of money. I looked at how to make money so I had the freedom to do what I really wanted to do. I wanted choices, which at that point I did not have any.

With the idea of choices in mind, I decided I wanted residual income, with as little work for that residual income as possible. I knew in the forefront there would be an enormous amount of work involved to get to the point where it was possible to be able to make my own decisions.

I had always wanted to get into Real Estate, but the stereotypical stories we all hear kept me at a level of fear. I'd tell myself, maybe when I get really rich I'll look into it. I always kept pushing it aside and away as something that is reserved for the rich.

True you do need some money to go into Real Estate, but remember I was reaching for my potential. When I convinced myself that I wanted to do it, the only question became how. I dove head first into books, blogs, posts, articles, anything and everything I could get my hands on revolving around Real Estate. I started this in early December of 2016. Initially I set out a goal to get 1 property that cash flowed before the end of the year. At the time I had no idea what I was getting into or the process required to purchase a property that was for business.

I spent the next three weeks reading and learning. I absorbed at a high rate, because I was so interested in it. It was going to be my way to start my residual income journey. After three weeks of studying, I began to feel like I grasped enough of the concepts and ideas to start hunting for a property.

So I began property hunting, I spent my nights, and days off hunting for a property. Looking them over, driving by, guessing on repairs needed, and estimates for those repairs, then looking at comparable properties in the area and running the basic numbers to see if they would cash flow...or rather if it would be a good investment for my money.

This was the first actions I took towards reaching my potential. What do I want, and then how do I get there. This is what you need to decide. Set your goals, set them high, and then break it down into the parts you need to so that you can get there.

Reverse engineer it. I want to be financially free in 9 years, so that I can make my own decisions in life. The goal is financially free...well what is that? Lets pretend that is $10,000/mo in residual income. So $10k per month by year 9. If I were to divide it out evenly that would be an extra $1,111.12 per month increase each year over 9 years.

If at the end of year 1 I need to hit $1,111.12/mo, how many properties do I need to buy in that first year? Lets say that each property will cash flow $150 per door, assuming not all properties will be single family homes (some might be duplexes, triplexes, quads, etc). $1,111.12 / $150 per door. That is 7.5 doors in the first year. Obviously if you found better or worse deals these numbers would change, but that is the jist of how you reverse engineer your goals.
Bigger pockets has been a good source of information for me. I have read a couple of books published by Bigger Pockets, I like the writing style of them. Here is their newest book by Scott Trench, super smart guy.