Ideas for next steps?

[Nick Miller]

Good Afternoon Biggerpocketers!

I started my real estate journey with my wife a little over a year ago! In that time we purchased a triplex in Panama City beach, FL, packed our car and moved from MN. We live in one unit, long term rent one, and Airbnb the other. This went pretty successfully in our first year, and we basically lived for free… took home a little profit. We then used that money and our W2 income to purchase a second place, SFH, a street away from us. We made this an Airbnb as well and expect to perform a little better than our first one. We have enjoyed being able to make a little more money by cleaning/handyman/yard work ourselves, however we know we have to give that up in order to scale.

Okay background done: My question is… with the expertise that you have, what would next steps look like for you, given our situation?  We have been thinking of continuing the 1 house per year, and turn it to an Airbnb until we cash flow enough to quit our W2s.  Then we can try making money any way we’d like!


Note: Panama City Beach STR makes most of its money from March-September… should I look elsewhere?

Thank you guys for any input!  I really appreciate it!

Nick Miller

[Ryan Mancuso]

What a great start! 

I think the best way would be to conintue "house-hacking" (with multi-fam or single fam) every year. Buy a new primary residence and rent out units, or stay in it for one year and then turn it into a STR.

That way you keep as much capital back as you can while building your budding real estate portfolio. As you grow, you should consider what the best use of your time is. I know you can save money cleaning/landscaping etc, but if you can use that time at work and make a better return, I would do that and have someone else do that work for you.

As you scale, you need structure in place to make sure it stays solid.

Good luck!