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Some investors are pushing back hard on the idea that real estate is a fast track to quitting your job and living off “passive income.”
In a popular thread on r/realestateinvesting, the original poster argued recently that quitting your job to go full-time into real estate is a risky move. “I think you need to have money from a job or other business that you then invest and grow through the power of real estate… especially in this uncertain economy,” they wrote.
Hundreds of experienced investors agreed. A person who started investing in 2007 and now owns 72 rentals said, “I have not quit my W-2 job. The W-2 income helps with financing, especially when starting out.” They added that keeping a steady job allows them to weather expensive problems like multiple heating and cooling system failures without panicking.
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The idea that you can get rich in real estate without using your own money is often linked to influencers selling expensive courses. One commenter pointed out, “You skipped the part where the influencer then asks you to buy their course for $15,000 to teach you how to buy properties.” Others noted that these so-called full-time investors are really full-time content creators. “If they were making so much money from rentals, why would they be spending so much of that ‘time freedom’ working on their phones, developing ‘courses?’”
Even those who eventually went full-time say they waited years. One investor said, “It took me 12 years to ‘retire’ from my W-2 job by investing in real estate.” Another added, “I didn’t quit my W-2 job until my rental income was about the same as my W-2 income. Now, it is my life. Love it. Gives you a lot of freedom.”
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Wholesaling, often promoted as an entry point, was also criticized. “You’re just replacing one job with another and not building wealth, just income,” the original poster argued.
Some who have gone all-in don’t regret it, but their stories share a common theme: capital, experience, and a big safety net. One investor who scaled to more than 80 units said, “I would rather hustle to build my own net worth rather than wealth for some company’s shareholders.” But even he admitted that it still feels like a full-time job and that you need “a thick skin for stress and punishment.”