Does this look all too familiar?
I already know what you’re thinking: great -- another blog article on investing in real estate. By yet another real estate investor who’s about to tell me how he remembers what it was like commuting to work and counting down the minutes until he could leave. And then how he created an empire overnight.
This author isn’t that real estate investor.
This author is going to tell you the not-so-glamorous truth behind real estate investing.
My name is Kris McFarlane and for over ten years, with my wife and two young children by my side, I have been an active real estate investor. From taking jobs I don’t like – just to qualify for a mortgage -- to house hacking for far too long, to the four of us living in a travel trailer: we have done it all!
From just starting your real estate investment journey to purchasing a house with a suite or even looking to purchase your first investment property, the steps towards financial independence through real estate investing are interesting ones.
Every investor has walked these steps.
Starting the journey:
- Be prepared to live on a student’s salary, while earning a grown-up salary, for a long, long, time.
- You’ll need to find, and remember, your “Why?” – as in “Why am I doing this?” And the answer can’t just be that you want a lot of money. Your why must be non-monetary. It must incorporate your very purpose for living.
Mid-journey:
- While you’ve purchased your first, second or maybe even third house in the past few years, your peers have still been trying to save up for their first “forever home”. So don’t expect their admiration: the journey to the top can be a lonely one.
- When the $1000 dollar expense feels more like a $100 expense (of which you barely think twice) and you can see the light at the end of the tunnel, this landmark is still not a time to be frivolous.
Reaching the finish line:
- Although you can cover your lifestyle, you are well aware how a few small wrong moves could send you sliding backwards along the journey before you know it
- While you are no longer tied down to your job, remember financial indolence isn’t a right and the rent is due every day.
The journey we all share.
From looking much poorer than you are to people wondering why you still have so many roommates, to others questioning just how many properties you own, nothing about the real estate investor’s journey is normal!
