Why do I invest in real estate? For me, it goes beyond the typical benefits of real estate investing: income, appreciation, leverage, tax advantages, and diversification. Early on in my young adult life, I was taught one of the biggest lessons that changed my life forever. I was a young engineer, fresh out of college, graduated in 2007. I followed the story that they feed you growing up: go to school, get good grades, get a good degree, get a good job that you’ll work for 40+ years and you’ll be set. I found out that the story was nothing but a fairytale.
One day in 2008, I got called into my boss’s office, he gave me a letter and told me it was the end of the line for me. On my way out of his office, HR handed me a box that they had quickly packed up all my stuff from my cubicle and escorted me out of the building like I was a criminal. I couldn’t even comprehend what had just happened to me at the time. Just like that, I had been laid off, not told anything whether it would be temporary or permanent. I got in my car and just drove, trying to make sense of things, trying to answer a question that I had no answer to. Why? What did I do wrong?
This harsh lesson taught me to never rely on just one source of income and changed the course of my life forever. That was the beginning of my real estate investing journey. I invest because I want to create multiple streams of income and never have to rely on a job again. I’m looking to create FU money. Freedom is unlimited money, where I have freedom of time, location, and purpose. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t need to be filthy rich, have a mansion, or a fleet of fancy cars. I just want to create a life where I’m free to do what I want, when I want, and where I want to go with my family.
Those who are fortunate enough to have a job that they love, that’s great. But for me, I’m building multiple streams of income and businesses where I won’t need to be present or actively involved daily in order to produce income. Of course, at the moment I am actively working and building those businesses and systems. I’m working many hours beyond 40 a week. You either work hard for yourself or you get hired to work hard building someone else’s dream.
While achieving FU money one day would be fantastic. The biggest reason that I invest is because life is short, precious, and uncertain. You never know what will happen to your health or the health of your loved ones. One day the doctor might say you have cancer or a terminal illness. When you get that kind of news, does your work even matter anymore? When you lose the ability to work to produce income for your family, it’s a massive blow to your finances. For these reasons, that is why even while I’m actively working as both a real estate agent and investor. I’m building up my layers of multiple income streams, in case any of these situations were to happen. Even as a real estate agent, I am able to create a separate income from my active agent sales income, which is passive which I can pass to my heirs and they can continue to pass it on as well.
If you’d like to get started in building your multiple streams of income and generational wealth as a real estate investor or agent, comment, DM, or email me. As an agent who specializes in investment properties, one of my goals is to help others find their financial freedom through real estate. I truly believe in creating a life for yourself that you want to live. Thank you for reading my story, about why I invest in real estate. I’ll be dropping future posts dedicated to real estate investing. Don’t forget to follow those.