Bay Area Tech Worker Shares How She’s Building Real-Estate Side Hustle

Connie Bai works in tech and lives in the Bay Area, in Campbell, California. She obtained her real-estate license and would like to build a real-estate portfolio to generate passive income. Business Insider has verified her employment and real-estate purchases. The following has been edited for brevity and clarity.

My drive for buying real estate is my ambition and my passion. I want to achieve great financial success. Many people in my network, and typically my friends, they’re OK with their W-2 status working a full-time job at a tech company. They’re getting paid very decently, like myself. Someday, they’ll take their 401(k) and retire happily. That’s a good path. But I want to make a ton of money.

The more I do, the more I feel it’s not enough. I always want to do more. This is capitalism.

After college, I had a chance to get into real estate. That was in the early 2000s in China. With my first experience, I was lucky and thought, “Oh, maybe that’s the way it is.” I happened to be able to make a ton of money from it, and then I sold it. I came to the US in 2001.

In 2011, I bought my first single-family home in Campbell, California, near San Jose. I felt I needed a permanent address. That was the first home I bought in the Bay Area, and I kept accumulating equity.

It’s the best setup. If I can do it, anyone can. Timing is important. I was very lucky because I bought in 2011. Nowadays, if you jump into it, it’s going to be painful because of interest rates. But I would say if you’re talking about the long-term — 20 years, 10 years even — it’s always a good time to buy.

I didn’t buy another home until 2019. I felt a calling, for whatever reason, to buy again in the Bay Area. I was lucky again because it was right before COVID-19, and the transaction closed around Christmas. I use it as my vacation house.

The one that failed

I bought a third house in the Bay Area in 2021, right before the rates went up, and I just sold it this month. That one was a failure, actually. When I look back, I realize I didn’t do my due diligence. I thought it did, but it wasn’t enough.

I underestimated how much you have to put into a rental property. When you add everything up — insurance, plus property tax, plus your effort, your time, I underestimated the total cost. I was also lacking sufficient experience with the laws around renting it out, and I didn’t pick the ideal location.

I was a little too greedy back in 2021 because everything was going smoothly. I made a lot of equity. So I put all of my money, all my savings, into real estate. That was another mistake. Real estate is not a liquid asset. I should still have cash on hand. If I had enough cash, I would probably have held onto the property and waited for maybe five more years.

Over the past four years, I’ve made zero dollars from this property. If I had put my money into the stock market, I would have doubled my initial investment. So that’s why I wanted to pivot away from this property.

This hasn’t changed my belief in real estate. You learn when you fail. If you win every time, you never learn.

I would encourage every W-2 employee to do what I’ve been doing. They have to invest. The money needs to go somewhere, either into stocks or real estate. Sooner or later, you’re going to be rewarded. The principle is very simple: Land plus time equals money. You have to buy land and wait for X number of years — five years at least — and then you’re going to see money coming in.

Everyone should invest in real estate. But you need to be smart.

Always have multiple plans

I am working as a Realtor now. My plan is to get my broker license. Someday, I want to have my own brokerage. That’s the long game.

My dream is to build my own business empire. My mom always taught me that I need to be an independent woman. She had a dream a few months ago saying I gave her $700 million. I’m like, “Wow, this is my goal. This is the number we’re talking about.”

I work during the day for my W-2 job and on weekends for my real-estate business. I work seven days a week. I’ll stay up late and schedule my texts for the next morning.

I really want to make it a steady, passive income stream. I have to buy more. You have to have eight or 10 in order to have a sufficient amount of income that you can rely on this income stream and not work for anyone else.

While I want to achieve greater financial success, my other goal is to help people achieve their dreams. If they manage their money wisely and if they plan strategically, they can do this.

Always have your plan B, even plan C and D. There is a saying in Chinese: Don’t hang yourself from one tree. Always have multiple plans, try different things, and see what works. Then, you will find your passion.

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