Can I Invest in Real Estate with a Full-Time Job?

Invest in real estate, they say. It’ll make you rich!

Sure, once you’ve acquired real estate, rental properties can be the ultimate passive income investments. But what about all of the hours of work that go into doing research, buying rental property, and managing it? 

Ideally, you’ll end up with a vast portfolio of high performing income properties. But it’ll be a few years before you get there, and you still need money in the meantime. How are you supposed to accomplish all of this with a full-time job? 

The truth is, it can be done. The key is in automation. 

If you have the right knowledge, processes, and automation, investing in real estate with a full-time job does not have to be as difficult as it seems. Even as a beginner real estate investor, it is perfectly possible to invest in real estate and hold a full-time job.

Related: Why Investing in Real Estate and Having a Full-Time Job Is a Good Combo

How to Invest in Real Estate with a Full-Time Job

Choose a Real Estate Business Model

The first step towards investing in real estate with a full-time job is finding the right niche.

There are many ways to get started in real estate. You can choose from more obscure methods such as real estate note investing, to a service-based real estate business, such as becoming a bird dog. There’s also the tried and true method of buying rental property.

Whatever you decide, make sure that the real estate career you choose fits your lifestyle and investment goals. For instance, choosing to become a bird dog will require lots of on-going work. It’s possible to start part-time and slowly turn it into your full-time job, but it will never be a passive way to make money in real estate. On the other hand, starting an Airbnb business could become fully automated with the right tools.

To invest in real estate with a full-time job is no easy task. While there are many real estate careers that allow for balancing real estate and a full-time job, by far the best real estate career for people with a full-time job is buying rental property. Owning rental property is a real estate investment strategy that can be automated from the top down, making it ideal for a part-time real estate investor.

Write Up an Investment Plan

This step will require a little bit of thinking and research. Ultimately, it should not take up more than a few hours of your weekend.

The goal is to pinpoint the steps you will need to take to complete your investment goals. This way, you will know every bit of work that needs to be done. If you don’t know every step involved, take the time to research it. You won’t want to deal with unexpected real estate tasks while dealing with a full-time job. So, the more specific you are in your planning, the more time you will save yourself later. 

For example, if you choose to invest in real estate through purchasing rental properties, your list might look something like this:

• Identify the best cities for your chosen method of investment (traditional or short term rental properties).

• Research the most profitable neighborhoods in your city of choice that fall within your budget.

• If you are using financing to invest in real estate, secure a mortgage through your bank.

• Start narrowing down investment properties for sale in those neighborhoods and analyze them for their profitability potential. 

• Connect with a real estate agent who can help facilitate the property transaction.

• Purchase the property which has the highest return on investment.

• Advertise your property to attract tenants.

• Manage the property via regular maintenance, repairs, and rent collection.

• Save your monthly cash flow to invest in real estate again, and repeat the above processes.

Create Real Estate Systems

Now that you know what will be required of you in order to invest in real estate, you can start creating real estate systems. This is the part of your planning that will allow you to invest in real estate while working full-time. 

This means identifying portions of the process you outlined that can be either automated through software or handled by a person other than yourself. Don’t worry if you aren’t ready to pay for expensive online tools or employees. Real estate investment software can be quite affordable, and your investment property income should be able to pay for any labor you can’t perform yourself.

Mashvisor’s real estate investment tools can help you find real estate deals quickly by streamlining your rental property analysis:

• The real estate heatmap automatically locates the most profitable neighborhoods in your city of choice.

• The property finder chooses the best potential investment properties through your specific search criteria.

• The rental property calculator quickly determines the profitability of any property you want to analyze, in terms of return on investment and cash flow. 

With these tools, you can turn hours of research into minutes. Forget real estate investment analysis spreadsheets and difficult calculations. Mashvisor takes the work out of finding the best investments, so you can keep your full-time job and still invest in real estate. 

See also: Mashvisor: A Real Estate Investing Tool for All Your Investment Needs

Having the best real estate investment tools is the first step in streamlining your work processes. Next, you will want to start building your real estate team.

Build a Real Estate Team

Having a network of professionals to rely on is key to holding a full-time job while real estate investing. 

It will be helpful to start a list of professionals you might need help from to successfully invest in real estate:

• Real estate agent

• Professional property management

• Accountant

This shortlist is a good place to start. Depending on what kinds of tasks your property manager performs, you might be comfortable working your full-time job and allowing your property manager to run the show. 

However, managing a rental property is a lot of work, and you may find that some tasks are still falling in your lap. It is good to keep track of any work you perform, and eventually, you may want to hire freelancers for various tasks. This could be paperwork or online activities such as marketing. Or, it could mean hiring property repair and maintenance professionals, such as plumbers.

Related: Building a Successful Real Estate Team: A Guide for Beginner Investors

As mentioned earlier, you will pay for services such as professional property management only after acquiring your first property. This means that it won’t cost you anything upfront, and a portion of your rental income should cover it. Keep in mind, you’ll need your cash flow to be high enough to support paying for services to help you invest in real estate while working a full-time job. As a result, finding the best properties with the highest cash flow is especially important.

Luckily, Mashvisor can help you score the most profitable investment properties. To start looking for and analyzing the best cash flow investment properties in your city and neighborhood of choice, click here.