Renting, Leasing and Property Management for Income

I started into real estate acquisition when I got married. My wife and I both wanted to be able to retire young, but we needed to secure an income we could generate without first spending years in training. We had both dropped out of college and were already in our late twenties when we got married. Using our clean credit and day jobs as buying power, we started buying houses. We both had a course in leasing agent training to get renters to sign leases, and the rest is history.

One purchase lead to another as far as houses and properties were concerned. We have even flipped a couple of houses that were too good to pass up. I had went to school for carpentry as a young man. That nine month course helped me identify what I needed to know about structures that were viable for flipping. Plus, it helped me with sweat equity getting the work done right and cheap when necessary. It was always a balance of time versus money. We were both able to quit our day jobs not that long after we got started. We went into full time management of our properties.

As the Internet developed, we established a system for renters to pay online using their bank accounts or credit or debit cards. This really helped in rent collecting and cutting down on personal visits to pick up rent checks. Most tenants paid on time using the Internet or just mailing checks. Some were habitually late. Sure, we had our share of troublesome tenants, but that is all part of the landlord game. We got a deal on an apartment complex from a couple who were retiring. They wanted it to go to us. Now we are ready to retire, and we have pretty much turned over property management to our niece who is really good at leasing residential and commercial properties. A good income without college is still possible, but none if it is easy.