Speculation: Jobs or Real Estate?

to me real estate is safer than having a job. the stories that make it to this blog tend to be on the extreme side, but generally speaking, it's pretty easy work.

case in point:

my tenants just moved out. scary parts: they neglected to give me a 30 day notice, and hadn't paid their full rent for the month. great parts that outweighed the scary parts: they had the house professionally cleaned and left it in better shape than they got it (hard to do with a brand new house!), my realtor (who happens to live in the same development) took care of the walk through and key collection since i live an hour away.

i never even met those tenants! did all the dealings over the phone and email. and then called in some favors for everything else.

further, got the house filled two days after they moved out. a friend had called me asking if i had anything open for an employee he was moving to town. at the time, i didn't. and then, it all fell into place. haven't met the new tenants yet, either, but they're in a house that's beyond their biggest dreams.

let's compare that to:

got a call today from a local wedding chapel. they're one of my web design clients now, but i used to film weddings and do reception work for them. UGH. talking to the owner was a big reminder of why jobs are NOT WORTH IT, to me. i had to wake up early, put on uncomfortable dress clothes, drive all the way downtown, struggle to find a parking place, and then do a million and one things for 8+ hours. went home with sore feet, and a feeling of anxiety that the boss would discover something i forgot to do. all for a whopping 10 bucks an hour!

i make more from my real estate. the regular tasks there include: paying the mortgage, paying the sewer bill, paying the garbage bill.

irregular tasks: dealing with anything that you'd normally deal with around your home (winterizing, broken heater, etc.). mishaps like that happen less than once a month on my and norris' real estate, combined. and then, if we're unable to fix it ourselves, we call someone to take care of it. total time spent on fixing a rental: 1-2 hours, once a month.

vacancies? they don't happen much these days. the more real estate you have, the easier it is to move good tenants around from house to house (when they need something bigger, smaller); and you don't waste time showing houses to people, because if they're a good tenant, chances are you have at least ONE house that will work for them.

i get to do most of my real estate work in my pajamas, from home!

as far as speculation goes: anyone who has a job, in my opinion, is speculating. you're speculating that your place of employment will always need you, and that they'll continue to give you raises as inflation rises. you're speculating that your pension will be there (when hundreds of court cases are showing otherwise), you're speculating that you will always be fit to work (arthritis, pregnancy, sick kids). you're speculating that when the work day is over, you're going to feel satisfied with those measly four hours you get to spend with your family.

i guess i'm thankful so many people think real estate investing is an overwhelming task. that ensures i'll always have an abundance of tenants to choose from!

but, on the other hand, i wish more people were real estate investors. then i'd have more people to hang out with during the day!

Contribution from Gertie, who controls real estate in Reno, Nevada and small town Minnesota.