[Shankopotomus]

Hi All!

Wanted to start a thread to hear thoughts/ideas on secondary income and the steps you took to feel financially fit. I’m debating getting my real estate license for supplemental income, but wanted to hear if anyone else had ideas. I interned with an individual in Colorado in college in 2018 who has his own team and he is originally from Indiana (where I live currently).

He would love for me to move out to Colorado, but I’m not comfortable making that jump. Therefore, he offered for me to get licensed here in Indiana to help me gain some supplemental income. Goal is roughly 15-20k/year in extra income to help with putting what I learned from my Econ degree to work. I currently cannot max 401k contributions. I contribute 6% of my salary, which is the company match, but I would love to start saving for investment properties, get ahead on student loan payments, etc. I simply don’t have the disposable income now to really feel confident in our future. I know the money will come eventually at my current company, but after all bills/expenses I only have around 1k left per month.

All this to say, my question is does anyone have any experience getting into the real estate business on the side? From my internship experience and spending time with who would be my team leader, I am hesitant to believe I’d have the time to dedicate to this to be successful. Current job is WFH, and I work 8-5, and am not confident I could be successful without going all in. I’m also open to other ideas as well beyond real estate.

I’m sharing some background below to share a bit about our situation to see if anyone else has been in a similar situation.

Quick Background:
- Graduated from undergrad May of 2020 and started my first “real” job with a Pharma company July of 2020 (interned with them in college and accepted an offer prior to my senior year of college).
- I’m in the marketing department and while the pay is “good” (considering benefits too) after almost 2-years my base salary has not increased as much as I would have hoped. Not due to performance, but because of how compensation increases are determined (must be in a role for at least 2-years for promotion eligibility).
- Current salary is 64k with an additional yearly bonus dependent on company performance.
- Purchased first home October of 2020 @ 2.75, original value of 270K and latest appraisal was 356K. Current loan amount is 240K. I share this as to why I don’t want to uproot us and move. We love the location and I work from home. I would for this to be a rental property once we have the funds to build and with the price of homes we feel like this property was a true blessing and need to stay where we are. Depending on future rates/home prices and after my S/O has a full-time job after finishing school, I plan to leverage this equity to purchase a rental. But that is at least 2-years down the road and I want to start saving and investing more now.

Thank you all in advance for sharing your stories, advice, and thoughts.

[RnmEvo9]

You have to get rid of your anchor (s/o) and go with the flow.

[chassis]

Shank: what do you want? This needs to be answered.

[Shankopotomus]

Originally Posted by chassis

Shank: what do you want? This needs to be answered.

Originally Posted by chassis

Shank: what do you want? This needs to be answered.

Looking for more disposable income for investments.

[NothingButToast]

You're better off just trying to find another job in your field paying that ~15-20k extra you're looking for.

We're currently in a fantastic time for you to be finding higher paying/better jobs, leverage it.

[VAcurler]

If you are moving to a city in Colorado along the Front Range expect to not be able to buy a house if you move here unless you get a nice raise and/or your SO is also working. Townhouses start at $400k around Denver. Real Estate in this sellers market is not a side hustle unless you are a gopher for the Realtor. I'd second what NothingButToast said and look for a new job with a 25% raise.

[aguywalksintoabar]

Not what you're asking but random thoughts I hope help:

1. Saving goals: https://youtube.com/shorts/7P4_rt_t0yw?feature=share

2. Problem spending and buy too much? Read this: https://www.wob.com/en-gb/books/alvi.../9780340793411
You and your money by Alvin Hall changed a lot of things for me.

3. Inspirational quote attached. See photo.

4. Odd jobs being discussed here but some of these could work for extra income: Odd jobs you'd like to try in retirment https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1888849

5. 401/K

6. Buy and sell. Flip cars. Real estate.

7. Coding. Learn python or something. Coders are always in demand.

8. Uber/Lyft Driver. F30lolz you still driving out there?

9. Play the finance markets. Trade stocks. Stock market tips and experiences https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1555010

10. House sitting

[2000cs]

Couple of thoughts
I went to real estate school when I was in college. It was cheap and I thought it might be interesting. I never became a realtor or broker, but I learned a lot about how houses are bought and sold, disclosures, liability, etc. Most valuable single class I took.

If you have a good job/career, learning to invest for the long term is excellent training since you should have 401(k)/IRA and savings to invest and maximize.

In both examples you are investing in yourself with practical education.

[KevinC]

Last resort?

[TheWatchGuy]

have you heard of onlyfans?

[Run Silent]

I guess it depends on how much work and how much money you want to make? I get a pretty solid income from my primary employer and subsidize that with investments - mostly in real estate.

My two other 'ventures' for extra income right now are:

1. Guidepoint. this is a research firm that does online surveys targeted to specific employment backgrounds and interviews to assist their clients. I bill out at $350/hr for the consultations and the surveys are usually about 15 minutes and I get $50. This eats up about 3 hours of my time a month and I usually bring in about $1,000/mo. Very worth it.

2. Vehicle arbitrage. Right now in this market, there are certain vehicles that are bringing huge amounts over sticker price. So I order them new after researching which dealerships have strong allocations and which options are least constrained. Then I resell them. I can do this 6 times a year without being a dealer in my state. Perfect example - average wait time on a Bronco right now is almost 2 years. I ordered one in January though and got it in March. Ordered 3 more in February and one of those is slated for delivery in late May. Sold the first one the day I got the title in the mail and got a net profit of $10,000 after tax. Had the vehicle for about 2 weeks and put around 400 miles on it.

[Alfisti]

This fucking guy.

[dreamingat30fps]

Originally Posted by Run Silent

2. Vehicle arbitrage...

Is that what they're calling scalpers these days??

I'm guessing you start off in the graphics card / game console arbitrage business and move up to vehicle arbitrage once you get some experience?

[Run Silent]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

This fucking guy.

FYI - plans to be in Toronto again in June. Shoot me a message if you are gonna be around and we can meet for a drink or something.

Originally Posted by dreamingat30fps

Is that what they're calling scalpers these days??

I'm guessing you start off in the graphics card / game console arbitrage business and move up to vehicle arbitrage once you get some experience?

Not scalping - just market awareness. So many folks simply don't want to wait to get an in-demand vehicle. Why shouldn't one capitalize on this?



It's not really any different than house flipping.

[OkieSnuffBox]

I'd say it depends on what you value most.

1. More time
2. More money

I'm occasionally approached about side work (I'm a Senior Technical Writer for a LARGE eCommerce company). But if they aren't willing to pay AT LEAST 2 my hourly rate (to cover for it being 1099), I'd rather just not work more than 40 hours per week. And I haven't found anyone willing to pay me $100/hr for my what I know. They'd rather pay someone $20/hr who doesn't know what they are doing and have crap.

You're also young enough for it to make a much larger difference long term than I am (just turned 40).

[dreamingat30fps]

Originally Posted by Run Silent

FYI - plans to be in Toronto again in June. Shoot me a message if you are gonna be around and we can meet for a drink or something.




Not scalping - just market awareness. So many folks simply don't want to wait to get an in-demand vehicle. Why shouldn't one capitalize on this?



It's not really any different than house flipping.

If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck... it ain't no vehicle arbitrager.

Not hating just calling it like I see it.

[Run Silent]

Originally Posted by dreamingat30fps

If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck... it ain't no vehicle arbitrager.

Not hating just calling it like I see it.

It's like the difference between tax evasion and tax avoidance. One is illegal, and one is just a smart financial move.

Same here. Scalping is illegal. Buying a car and selling it for a profit is not.

[dreamingat30fps]

Originally Posted by Run Silent

It's like the difference between tax evasion and tax avoidance. One is illegal, and one is just a smart financial move.

Same here. Scalping is illegal. Buying a car and selling it for a profit is not.

Hmmm I'm not sure what the formal definition of scalper is, however I think most people (at least most people I know) would agree a scalper is someone who preorders/buys hard to get items with the sole intention of reselling them at a higher price. This is done with all kinds of stuff like graphics card, game consoles, iphones etc. Nothing illegal about it.

[OkieSnuffBox]

Originally Posted by dreamingat30fps

Hmmm I'm not sure what the formal definition of scalper is, however I think most people (at least most people I know) would agree a scalper is someone who preorders/buys hard to get items with the sole intention of reselling them at a higher price. This is done with all kinds of stuff like graphics card, game consoles, iphones etc. Nothing illegal about it.

Buying to resell at a higher price.

Sounds like Wall Street.

[OkieSnuffBox]

I will say this regarding rental properties, that looking back I wish I would have done. By my age now I'd have a ton of rental properties.

Buy duplex, live in one side, rent the other. Pay off ASAP. Buy another duplex, live in one side, rent the other, pay off ASAP. Buy another duplex, live in one side, rent the other, pay of ASAP.

Once you go to buy the next thing, you currently have 6 rental properties under 3 roofs and should have a healthy amount of cashflow/equity, to start doing things like buying other rental homes or small apartment complexes, etc. And I'm sure there are even more effective ways to leverage the properties sooner.

[P1]

Originally Posted by Run Silent

It's like the difference between tax evasion and tax avoidance. One is illegal, and one is just a smart financial move.

Same here. Scalping is illegal. Buying a car and selling it for a profit is not.

But yet we bitch, moan and put dealers on blast that are selling vehicles over MSRP.

[Run Silent]

Originally Posted by P1

But yet we bitch, moan and put dealers on blast that are selling vehicles over MSRP.

Yup - not the dealer's fault - supply and demand. Dealer only has 20 cars on the lot these days vs 200, he is gonna have to make more per unit to stay in business.

If there is still a line out the door to pay the over-msrp prices, then that is simple economics of supply and demand and is absolutely how the free market should work.

I certainly am not going to pay those prices - but have no issue if others feel it's worth the money to do so and no issue with the sellers charging what the market will bear.