I think I have a goal but I do not have a plan for investing.

[Petr Anisimov]

My goal: I want my family to be financially independent in a foreseeable future. For that I need to have monthly income of about 4k to cover my current expenses. I think that I am comfortable with investing in Rental Properties - buy and hold. 

1. I am taking baby steps - posting at BP and reading your blogs, listening to podcasts;

2. I am looking at my personal finances. I have a good job and a great credit, I think that I do have cash reserves in addition to a down payment on property at about 100k range.

3. What areas to invest in? I am looking for resources that would provide me with definite macro indicators such as population, business growth, housing market in order to make up my mind on an area where I want to invest. I would like to analyze my local area: Santa Fe/Albuquerque New Mexico first and move from there.

4. How do I cost a deal? What are the good places to source information about costs of repairs, taxes, insurance for my area?

I think that once I have some basic financial information about area then I can start looking for deals.

My question to the BP community:

- how do I start writing a business plan?

- where do I find relevant information about specific area? 

- what would be my exit strategy?