Join me on the next Foreclosure Fridays Live (June 29th) to discuss my trip, Foreclosure Book, etc! Start at 5PM PST (10AM Saturday in Australia).

Need Stable Income… Get a Job?

To get a job or to do some wholesaling/bird-dogging for other investors or both? I can’t wait any longer without solving the issue of income.

We’ve had a few random places that we’ve been getting money in the last couple of months. That, plus credit cards have kept us going. But now both sources have dried up.

I can’t just run away from my responsibility and move in with my parents like I did in the past. I am married now and must support my wife. She NEEDS security/stability. The lack of stability has been an issue for our entire marriage of 2.5 years. That must change.

The source of income must bring in enough money to cover our bare-minimum living expenses of about $1,500-2,000, PLUS her credit card payments of $1000. So I need after tax income of $3,000 per month. (I’m not factoring in my mortgages and MY credit card bills).

We managed to continue paying all of HER credit cards. So her FICO score is still pretty good – though the cards are all maxed out. That’s the only thing that’s affecting her score right now. Good thing she is not on any of the real estate loans (except for hard money loan – hopefully they will not report).

Work under my “Rich Dad?”

I do have a very good opportunity to mentor under a millionaire real estate investor. I went to high school with a buddy who’s dad made all his money in the last down market in California – back in the 90’s. So he would be perfect to learn from. Can you see the next blog idea: “How to Make Money in Real Estate in a Down Market!”. :-)

However, rich dad is not willing to pay me a salary. I will have to make money by bringing him deals – under his guidance. So my money will come from finders’ fees / assignment frees. He will buy deals from me or help me sell the deals to other investors.

Problem is… I am not sure how long I will have to work before I find my first deal. So it’s not exactly a stable source of income – at first. (I did put in that one offer an a fixer-upper… maybe that will be my first one).

It’s a very exciting opportunity though! I will stay in the real estate game and learn to do it the right away. And make money while I’m learning.

I will have to work really hard – harder than at a regular job – but I will get rewarded for the extra work. Just like a salesman or any other self-employed individual – my earnings will be directly proportional to my production – not my title.

Or tie myself up with traditional employment?

If I get some full-time hourly job for 8 hours a day, my hands will be tied. I will have just a couple of hours a day at night to devote to continuing my real estate investing education and work on the business. I will have very little time to spend at home. My sleep, marriage, and social life will likely suffer even more.

I can’t just do a job. I do not want to give up my dream of financial independence. If I get a full-time job, I will continue doing my business and investing on the side. Finding time to do both will be hard (tried it before many times). If I must do that, I will. But it will probably take much longer to reach my goals.

An hourly job has limited earnings potential. Getting a 3% raise every year is not my idea of “upwardly mobile”. Making $25/hour writing code seems like a waste of time when I can sell a real estate contract for $5,000 after doing 5 hours of work = that’s $1000/hour!

So if I can work really hard for one month and find just 2 deals, I can make $10,000. That’s much better return on my time. This will also allow me to perhaps pay back all my debt instead of declaring bankruptcy.

This is the 1-in-a-hand-and-2-in-the-bush type of idea. (More accurately: 100 in a bush). A job is instant stability but limited pay. Doing my own business is future stability with unlimited pay.

The 1-in-a-hand is not exactly true. I don’t have any job offers right now. I still need to go out there and try to find a descent job that will cover our expenses and wife’s credit card bills. I do have tech / internet / programming background. But finding a good tech job is not exactly easy or fast.

I can hear some of you haters critics ready to criticize me about not looking for a job this entire time. “If you started sending out your resumes when you first got into trouble you would have already had one!“… sounds good but my reality is not that simple.

Last month, I did have a pretty good job opportunity present itself out of the blue. The pay was good and the work was right up my alley. But, honestly, I really did not want to take it because of the reasons above. However, I knew it was the smart thing to do. So I told the guys I will be starting in a week. Then the whole thing fell through.

Tough decisions!

I’m an entrepreneur at heart. It’s very hard for me to work in a cubicle. I will do it if I have to.

This week I must decide on a source of stable income! I can’t wait any longer or we’ll be on the street. Yes, my parents might take us back home… but how embarrassing is that? That would mean I really failed as a husband and provider.

I also need to meet with a couple of bankruptcy attorneys to get advice about my foreclosure situation, real estate and credit card debt. I’ve been procrastinating in this area. Plus, I need to consult my CPA about tax implications on short sales, bankruptcy and other stuff. I will compare their advice with some of your comments on the blog. I will report my findings later.

Hopefully I will find enough money to pay the professionals…

It’s going to be a very busy week!!!

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