Delayed gratification...

Us property investors know all about this one.

I'm wondering how others here handle it?

I'm currently smack bang in the middle of the not-fun part of the whole property investing scenario.

Lots of long days doing reno's. Working every day I have off on the houses. Even when you have a moment spare you are so exhausted you can't muster up the energy to do anything fun. At best you can just barely keep your eyes open while you melt into the couch and watch some tv.

Bloody boring.

There's lots of fun things I have in mind that I could do, but they require (1) Time (2) and Energy. And I don't have either of them right now.

What do others do when they find themselves in this sort of situation so they can keep plodding along?

It'll be a very different picture in a years time and all this hard work will pay off, but right now it suuuuuucks.

 

Keep the end goal in mind always. Minor inconveniences along the way count for very little in the grand scheme of things.

Also, where possible, stick to the type of projects you enjoy. Then it won't be so boring or energy draining.

 

Been there a couple of times before with my wife also working hard by my side, both about 7 weeks long runs of never ending hard physical work with early starts and late finishes.
Moving house, moving and operating a business and renovating all at the same time.
Was extremely fatigued but continued on with best efforts.
The worst part is knowing what's ahead and there will be no time off available, it can seem overwhelming and you often feel that you should not have to put yourself through this when others are enjoying their lives comfortably.
You just got to get through it and you'll come out much, much better at the end.
These type of situations are as mentally draining as physically, just keep thinking of your goal.

Consistent hard work directed to the right areas always pays off in one way or another.

 

Think about the alternatives if you do nothing now.

 

Work to a plan and you see the end goals. Halfway is the hardest part where all you have is mess and nothing looks finished, push through it.

Wannabe's spend their time talking about mindset and posting inspirational quotes and telling themselves they will be successful...... real successful people get stuck in and make something of it.

 

Damn right there.
When the going gets tough the tough gets going.

The spruikers often leave this small detail out.....then the suckers get upset because as they soon realise that they actually have to put an effort in to achieve significant results.

 

All good points. I've been at this since 2012 so the fuel tank is running a bit low. Since I started reno'ing in 2012 I've lost 16kg of muscle (not fat). Down to 69kg...and I'm 190cm tall. All the work is literally making me waste away. So I'm definitely pushing myself to the limit...

But the end result will be amazing. Just got to keep pushing.

 

Yeah definitely not "easy money".

 

Be careful - that doesn't sound healthy, especially if there is no end in sight. Pushing the limits over a 3 month reno is one thing, doing it over 3+ years is quite another.

 

Nope not healthy at all. Some days I run off of neurofen and coffee to deal with the muscle pain and exhaustion. That can't be good for you.

But I'm just having a bit of a whinge now.

I just need to figure out what I need to do to recharge the batteries. But I'm finding, even when I try to slow down and have a day off, it's so hard to relax because I have so many things I need to do.

 

Take a break for a few weeks, dont do any reno work. Focus on something else or just sit around and do nothing, go to the beach etc. Renos can wait

 

Yeah I think you're right hey.

I've just got to force myself to take it easy for a decent couple of weeks. It's so hard to slow down though, when you've been going a million miles an hour for so long.

 

There's no point working so hard, all of the time, in order to get ahead, if you're not going to live long enough to enjoy the fruits of your labour. If it was only a short stint of very hard work, then that's fine, but 3+ years of it is just crazy. I understand the passion and the drive to succeed, but at what cost?

Your body is telling you that you need to spend some time taking care of it - remember, you can't reno the body quite the same way you can reno a house (ie. there are some parts of the body that just can't be fixed or replaced when they don't work anymore).

Be kind to yourself - the reno will wait for you to get back. Set yourself a small hiatus - maybe two weeks without any reno work - just to give yourself some down time. Your body (and mental health) will thank you for it .

 

Dear Tim,
am in the middle of things, and a new 'thing' appeared yesterday cracked pipe under the new bathroom.. tomorrow I am going drinking. Monday we will look at solutions. I'm sure you have friends and family to support you! Lean on them! I hope that helps!

 

Got to love "things" popping up.

 

I'm thinking about 2 weeks with no renovating right now... it's a very nice thought

There's a few little jobs that I'll have to do though. But I can probably knock it back to 1 hr on my days off rather than 9 hrs on my days off, for a couple of weeks.

 

For inspiration, you only need to think about the remuneration for each hour you work on the reno.

Our reno on our previous PPoR, I reckon I did on average approx 2 hours per day, 7 days per week, for about 6 months.

Approx 364 hours.

Some weekends I did a full day, some days I did nothing at all.

Call it 400 hours just to be sure.

The house was valued at approx $620k before reno, we spent approx $75k, and sold it for $850k.

Total profit after costs of approx $155k.

$155k divided by 400 hours = $387 per hour.

Call it $300 per hour to be safe.

 

Well done!

And you're right. The end result is really good. I'm just a bit fried right now. I think if I take it easy, recharge my batteries a bit, then I'll start back up again with a better perspective.

This 4-5 years of work will set me up for life. It's not even about the equity, I'll end up with almost 3/4 of a mil in sweat equity. But the really cool thing is the income stream. $50 000 per year profit from rent. And as long as I don't mind renting out a few rooms downstairs at my place, the cost of my accommodation is nothing. Then with a 2.5 million dollar property portfolio, just 3% growth per year is $75k equity created each year.

End result is really really good. It's 5 years of working myself to the bone, but then I can just dial it way back. I can afford to drop to 3 shifts a week at my day job and take 4 days off a week to do whatever I want. Blow some money on a boat and muck around most of the week. Just got to push through this crappy bit. And maybe take care of myself a bit better in the meantime.

 

I remember crying in your shoes because I was so exhausted. However, you've started the project and you have to finish it.

Despite my tears (I'm one of those girls who finds release from tension and stress by crying), it felt good to reflect on my achievements at the end.

As DT said above, trying focusing on your end goals. Everything in between sucks.......but it is short term pain.

 

Yeah youre right, the stuff in between sucks. I just have to laugh when people ask if I enjoy it. People look at me like im so pessimistic when I say I dont. But if they actually understood what was involved they would understand their question is the equivalent of asking someone "do you enjoy going to the dentist and getting your teeth drilled? The sense of fulfillment you get when you see your sparkling teeth afterwards must be so rewarding. I wish i could do what youre doing and get my teeth drilled into day after day".