I know the posts have been sporadic lately, but hey, this is free and I do it part-time.

Real Estate investing is not my primary full-time job, nor is the newsletter and REITactics certainly isn’t my primary full-time job.

I know the guru types encourage their followers to quit their jobs as soon as they can afford to do it but in my opinion that is really foolish. For the average person out there, any kind of investing should be, well, investing and not their job.

The benefits the guru’s list primarily revolve around working for yourself and not having anyone to hound you and tell you what to do. When you really examine them, they all basically boil down to that. The people who latch onto a concept based on that are in my opinion usually lazy and doomed to failure. Now, before you launch into me, hear me out.

If you are good at what you do and have real marketable skills then you aren’t likely to be stuck in a job that you hate unless you are a very poor manager of your finances. With real marketable skills and reasonable social skills you probably won’t have a boss you hate for very long. BTW, did you know the primary reason for most people leaving their job? They have problems with their immediate supervisor. Companies are really beginning to focus on that and train their frontline managers and supervisors to better manage their business-social relationship with people who report to them as well as their peers. This is having a big impact on turnover rates and is something owners of rental properties should pay attention to as well because aside from a job change the number one reason tenants move is a problem with their landlord. If you can foster a better business-social relationship with your tenants you will see your vacancies and turnover go way down and that means profits will go up.

But, back to having a job and yes I am intentially using that three letter word the gurus treat like a four letter one.

Having a regular paycheck is critical when you are starting your investing strategy for a whole host of reasons. Not the least of which is paying your everyday bills. You want to choose your investments based on the long-term benefits of them, not how much cash can you squeeze out of one of them this month, or this week. The job is for the short-term requirements and your investments are for long-term.

Now, eventually, there will come a time when your investments can support you in a mostly passive manner and you could easily stop working for “the man”. But, an interesting thing happens when you are planning for the longer term with your investments. Once you don’t “have” to work, you don’t mind it as much, in fact, it often becomes fun. The best way to be happy in life is to find something you love to do that can support your financial needs.

I can’t think of anyone who claims to love being a landlord. Even if you use a property manager, you are still responsible. If someone claims they love being a landlord or landlady then they are either lying or a masochist. We don’t own rentals because we like dealing with tenants. We own rentals for the long term goal of financial stability and security.

So, I have a day job I really like. I work with great people, using interesting technology to solve problems that have a direct positive impact on millions of people in this country each day. I am proud of what I do, even though I won’t mention my employer here, and look forward to getting up and going to work each day.

But, in addition to my job, I invest. I also started a site to help other investors that has grown to be a a portal with several specialized sub-sites. I like to write and I get up early each day to do the writing before handing it off to the people who manage the technology behind the scenes at the sites and head off to my day job. Without the right technology, I couldn’t do the sites and newsletters because I can do my research before the sun rises, write an article or two, approve the articles of others and still give my employer more than a full day’s attention. Since my family are late risers, Saturday mornings are especially productive for me. I can write a weeks worth of articles before they ever wake up. Then technology takes over to handle the distribution at the right time.

Yes, all in all, I like what I do and if you are interested in long term investing you might find that you like the way I do it too!

So, I’m sorry the posts have been sporadic, I will try to do a better job going forward.

Related posts:

1. Do Your Tenants Know You Are a GREAT Landlord?
2. Call Anywhere in the US for Free, at Least until the End of 2006.
3. There are 168 Hours in a Week …
4. Why Do Some People Loathe Real Estate Investors?
5. New Year – New Focus – New Name For The Blog