Hey Everyone! I am a new pro member and I have been educating myself over the past few months. A while back I was a landlord for about 3 years on a property I owned, and I am looking to get back into it as well as do a few flips. I have been a full-time IT Professional and Manager since 2001. My career has progressed well, and I have done OK. What woke me up to needing to do better was being diagnosed with MS late 2017 and having my first child that came 3 months premature that same year. My last two jobs haven't been all that great and I need to create financial stability and freedom for my family. I just turned 36. Currently living outside of Baltimore Maryland. I am still mobile but need to plan for the worst.

I just have a few concerns (not excuses) preventing me from getting started. I am willing to take action and do what is required to put myself in a better financial situation.

My current primary residence is eating up my debt to income ratio. I am currently at 75% due to my wife being home with our daughter. She is looking to go back to work which will help but I know that will create a huge challenge for getting mortgages if they just look at my income. I probably wouldn’t even qualify for a line of credit even though both our credit scores are 790 or better.
All our cash is tied up in our primary residence. The current equity in the home is basically all the cash we’ve put it in, and we’ve had in on the market to try to recoup that cash to begin investing. We didn’t have any luck and might try again early spring 2020. Ideally, it would be nice to stay in our home. Our mortgage is our only debt. No car loans, school loans, credit card balances or anything like that.
We have little cash currently for a down payment on another property and have been trying find deals where that cash can chip in for a flip (with a partner) to start gaining small returns and build it up.
I think I’ll have a hard time finding good contractors that won’t eat into profits. (This might be a poor assumption from someone that has never done a rehab)

A few things on my side:

I can manage debt very well and have recently learned I shouldn't be over spending or trying to live it up until I realistically can. My dreamer years have ended, I've enjoyed myself. Its time to buckle down.
I have been through the mortgage process, refi process and HELOC several times, so I know the drill
I don’t miss payments and can stay organized if multiple lenders are involved
Willing to sell my primary residence if we do not take a big hit on our cash in.
Willing to travel, move around and be in multiple markets. I have family owned property in upstate New York and in South Florida. I’m also noticed the Jacksonville Florida and Atlanta look like promising areas. I’d probably stick with the east coast for now. I have been looking at apartment buildings in Baltimore that I could probably buy if I didn’t have my current home. I could continue to work, and owner occupy the building to start growing a business. That was one route I have been thinking about.
I’m eager
Excellent Credit
A supportive spouse willing to go on this journey
Willing to learn and work with other investors
Understand that I also need to put things in place to protect myself. I'd like to create a trust and an LLC within that trust. I have a business entity name picked out and am thinking about filing in Florida since that is where we would like to end up one day providing I can afford proper education for my daughter living there.
I have also recently become a rentometer pro member and have been thinking of joining foreclosure.com. Do you all see value in that? I've also found several leads this year driving past homes, running the numbers and even sent two direct mailings. No good deals yet or just haven't thrown offers out there due to the details above. I also probably need pre-approval letters and some deals have been cash only. I used currentforeclosures.com for a bit to send my father-in-law some leads to go in as a partner but I didn't renew. Also been browsing Roofstock and have some cash in Fundrise.
I know I need for firm up a strategy and market to focus on first

I hope this post isn't all over the place and I really appreciate the time people spend reading posts like this. I'd love to hear from other investors that have ideas, advice, or maybe got out of a similar financial situation to get started and where you are now.

Thank you!

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