Need advice from veteran investor.. what is my next move?

[Travis W.]

Hello BP,

First off I apologize for what may be a very in-depth/lengthy post. Sorry. :) I will try to be very direct.

I purchased a SF house, in a nice town, that's 20 mins from a bigger city about a year ago using a VA Home loan. Essentially, my numbers are:

-  $126K purchase price with no money down. (1,000 for earnest money is all I paid for anything)

-  Mortgage with Escrow comes out to $826 monthly, utilities about $230, and all that yada comes out to about $1150 in expenses monthly.

-  When I ran the calculator on BP here, it states my cash flow is about $300-440 a month if rented at $1300-$1400.

Those numbers don't look too bad to me. I made the best decision I could when I went to buy my house. My monthly income is about $3338 minus ~$2k for expenses.. leaving me about ~$1338 monthly.

Here is my predicament.

1. I have no emergency savings. I used it all for my house essentially and paying down my car loan which is set to be paid off this February 1st.

2. I have a GI bill that expires within 9 years. Meaning if I want a 4 year degree at any point, I only have 3 years left until I have to go back to school.

3. I don't know how I get into my next property. By that, I mean I don't know how taxes will affect it, what home it should be, what circumstances am I looking for? I was thinking of finding a multifamily in the nearby city and house hacking it, but I know SFH make decent investments.

4. The kicker. I have a family member with a one-time significant amount of money that wants to get into investing, that isn't opposed to partnering and wants to rent my house but only at break even......but they also want to invest in a vacation home on the east coast by the ocean ( I personally think its a bad move). Is there a way I could cut a deal to get a new property here without getting another loan? My credit is only about 660. And I can't use another VA Loan.. unless I can..

5. I feel like getting a real estate license would be a good idea. I tried 2 years ago but got un-enrolled from the course during a management changeover and never tried again.

6. Oh, and I work a full time 40+ hour a week factory job that includes holidays and weekends.. so I am strapped for time daily.

So, that's my situation.. I have quite a few options and I am interested in what an experienced investor would recommend. This year I am itching to get moving on this. I think about this stuff everyday and try to make the right choices. This time I am genuinely stumped.

Thanks for any opinions or beneficial advice you people may have!

Highly appreciated!

Travis