I cringe everytime I hear somebody on here say they are going to “rent” something.
You sound like you’re doing pretty well in the real estate gig. I’m guessing because other people “rent” off of you. That’s how most of us make our money. So, why in the world would you want to make someone else money?
Here’s one idea—I don’t know about your area but in mine you can usually find empty storefronts with apartments above them (maybe 3 or 4 apts). Why not buy one of these buildings? Use the storefront as your office space, let the apartments pay your “rent” and expenses. The only slight disadvantage here is that most banks will consider this commercial, so you may only get 80% LTV. But, I won’t get into financing.
I do have to agree with you, it is hard to get work done at home. I really don’t know how some people work full time from a home office.
Anyway, please, please, please don’t rent off of somebody else.
I have a full time job. I work RE evenings and weekends. I have no problem with going out and finding houses, doing rehab work, cleaning up rentals, etc. It’s when it comes to the office details that I can’t get motivated. I have the space in my house to work, but I also have a 2 year old and a 5 year old who want daddy’s constant attention (and daddy can’t resist giving it to them). Every day while I’m at my job, I think I’m going to go home and work on the books; MSMoney; contact lists, etc. And every evening, it never happens.
How do you guru’s handle this? Does anyone actually rent office space? I’ve poked around and it’s not cheap. I’d be lucky to find something for $500/month. LUCKY. I’m wondering if the cost might not be worth it though. Especially after I finish this rehab (I’m going to contract out 100% of the work from now on) so I’ll need more “office time”.
I actually plan on providing some services to Realtors and FSBO’s in the future when/if I can move this to full time, and will end up needing office space for sure then.
Re: Work at home? Or rent office space? - Posted by RE King
Posted by RE King on January 24, 2005 at 08:30:05:
As with another poster, I worked at home for a while, got an office, then moved to a bigger house where I could put my office in the basement.
I completely disagree with anyone who says “you should never rent anything, for godsakes you’re in the rental business!”.
Unless your rental business involves office space, why dive into this sector just to save $500/mo., and deal with a property you wouldn’t otherwise buy? What if you change your mind and don’t want the office anymore? Then you have this office building with apartments to deal with forever.
Re: Work at home? Or rent office space? - Posted by Kristine-CA
Posted by Kristine-CA on January 23, 2005 at 11:23:37:
I know what you mean about working at home and kids at home. I’m a
homeschooling parent and I don’t have an office. I don’t even have a
room to myself in the house. Come to think of it, I don’t even have a
desk! Ah the modern miracles of lap tops, cell phones and electronic
signatures and efax accounts.
Other than the desire for more peace and quiet, I have no real need for
an office. I work in area out of town and when I’m there, there are
plenty of places to meet with people if necessary–title companies, etc.
I also use the downtown Starbucks quite often. And so do many other
RE people.
Not having an office can be a good thing I think. Less stuff to deal
with–less transportation, less bills to pay, etc. But I don’t need to
meet with too many “clients.” Try to enjoy those little ones in the
middle of everything. Your house will be plenty quiet and you will have
free evenings in just a few years. The cliche is so true. It goes
soooooo fast. I have a 14 year old that has a full life and she spends a
lot of time away from home. Part of the downside of raising
independent and confident children. One thing that you might
consider that many of my friends with young children do: hire a
daddy’s helper to play with the kids for 2-3 hours one evening a week.
Thereby giving you some quiet(er) time at home. And giving your wife
some time to either do home stuff by herself or perhaps even leave the
house.
I think you’ll know when the you can’t work at home anymore. I also
think that the culture is changing. Many people are working and
running busnesses out of their homes. And it’s become less of a
concern that our offices look a certain way, that we dress a certain way,
and that we have no home noise (kids and barking dogs) in the
background. I mean, that’s why I run my own business.
Thanks for the great responses. I’m gonna run an ad in the paper next week to see if anyone wants to “share” office space just to see what I get. I have plenty of room at my house (even a bonus room upstairs). Guess from what I read, I should do that.
For those who work from a “home office” - Posted by John-Fl
Posted by John-Fl on January 22, 2005 at 16:07:36:
Do you bring business to the house? I’m not talking paperwork and things like that but for example my cabinet guy wanted to drop off the proposal to my office, or another investor wanted to meet at my office to sign a contract assignment form and get 1/2 of his fee as a binder, or the mortgage broker wanting to drop off some papers… things like that. Do you guys conduct business in your “home office” or what do you do?
I usually say “nah, this is more of a “home” than an office… but I can meet you at the local Starbucks in 10 minutes…”
Re: Work at home? Or rent office space? - Posted by jasonrei
Posted by jasonrei on January 22, 2005 at 15:41:10:
I started in my home. Moved to an office. Now I’m working more from home again.
I rent office space, and regret it. When my lease expires, that’s it. It wasn’t a horrible investment. I mean, I have frontage on a busy street, and got a deal from being where I am. Our rehab manager has his own office and meets contractors there from time to time, and we’ve got a bunch of space for storing materials.
Still, there are drawbacks. I prefer walking into my home office. It’s a 5-second commute, versus a 20-minute drive each way to my rented office. There’s the commute expense. Potential for accidents, traffic tickets, flat tires, stopping to add fuel all the time. You can use commute time effectively, but it’s hard to be focused on business when you’re driving.
I can see how having kids in your office would suck. Lock the door. Make it clear you are not to be disturbed when you’re working. The big distraction to me would be noise. If your wife decides to vacuum or watch TV while you’re in the office, that could distract you. I’d consider an investment in sound-proofing my office before I’d fork out office rent. What I spend on office rent could have paid for really slicking out my home office. Hindsight’s 20/20.
Anyway, I don’t think there’s any real advantage to having an outside office, unless your home isn’t big enough. Everything else, you can fix.
Re: Work at home? Or rent office space? - Posted by Mike-OH
Posted by Mike-OH on January 22, 2005 at 07:29:16:
If you were doing 10 or 20 houses per month, then I might be able to see renting an office. However, for a part-time investor, why in the world would you waste money renting an office? To be honest, I can’t imagine what you’d do in the office more than a few hours a month. I conduct my business with a cell phone and an expandable folder (with forms in it). Of course, I do have a file cabinet and a computer to keep the books, but that takes all of 30 minutes a month. For far less than $500 per month, I’m sure you could find someone to do all of your accounting/paperwork and then you wouldn’t even need an office.
Personally I work from home and don’t have any interest in changing that. If I were going to have an actual office, I would rent, let me repeat that, RENT, a small office in one of those professional service centers(I don’t remember the exact name of the type of service). The rental fee includes the use of a conference room, a receptionist, a good copy machine, paid utilities, nice bathrooms, and probably a few other perks I don’t even know of. If you must have an office, I ask, why take on a bunch of overhead for an office you probably are not even going to use more than 10 hours a week?
One thing that you might