Ask HN: Anybody who left IT?
I took a break from coding&#x2F;ops for other people for money a couple years ago to pursue a startup idea I had. It was a cool project but I decided it wasn&#x27;t a great business idea due to regulatory issues with the field.<p>After that I had a choice to go back or do something else. I saw an opportunity to do a real estate development deal and I went for that.<p>I liked doing the first real estate project so much, I put together a group of investors and am pursuing a larger deal right now.<p>I do more interesting programming now than when I was working for others and keep my skills fresh. I really like real estate development for a number of reasons.<p>1) Much better tax treatment of income. Rents are not subject to self-employment taxes, a 15.3% discount.<p>2) Real estate benefits from access to the fountain of all money, the federal reserve. It&#x27;s national policy to support RE prices.<p>3) The ability to do a project, put in a lot of work, and at the end own something valuable in perpetuity.<p>After a year of a very large ops contracting project the checks just stopped. I really didn&#x27;t like that.<p>4) Real estate is a market that is very local, with a lot of opportunities for advantage through information asymmetry. It is also something that resists reaching global scale and the race to the bottom competition that induces, and resists automation.<p>5) I really like the physical quality of the work. I physically feel better due to all the running around and not sitting in front of a computer for 8 hours a day.<p>All of my software and hardware experience benefits me. I see all kinds of possibilities to save time&#x2F;money with these projects with software. One day I will probably create a startup in the RE space.<p>Most importantly there is a zen like nature to the work I do now, and I do a lot of the work on these houses myself, as the going rate for skilled craftsmen is not far off from a remote dev contractor in a lot of cases, and its easy to do many more hours than many employers would be willing to pay for.<p>Very importantly, the value created is put into the property which is only realized through higher rents (taxed as passive income) and&#x2F;or a capital gain if the property is sold. This probably means that in the long run I take home  more money rehabbing a house than I would coding for cash, due to appreciation and better tax treatment.<p>My only regret in all of this is that I didn&#x27;t do it sooner. In America real estate investing is a pretty reliable path to wealth for the right kind of person with the right kind of eye.