New to the Game....Possibly with a Partner?

[Arby Arbutina]

Hey, Everyone!!

First off, thank you for the help you all have provided previous subscribers to this site regardless of experience or lack thereof. I have been reading the blogs and forums around here soaking up every ounce of information I can!! Much appreciated help....

Now, here is a breakdown of where I stand, and I need straight shooters to point me in the right direction, or pop my proverbial real estate balloon! :-) No worries I can take it.

My situation is this. I recently went part time at the shop I am working in to pursue a few different passions I have (one of them being Real Estate). My Father committed suicide 3 years ago and I inherited a large farmhouse with a nice chunk of land and it is paid off in full so that is my housing/bills situation. Doing fine on that front. My wife, Stephanie, waits some tables and supplements our income for extra spending. I am not looking at making tons of money and moving to a beach yada yada...I would much prefer our secluded woods/fields and no neighbors property living the simple life...Lol. I am just looking to manage 10+ properties (or more) with a friend or by myself and running a small horse boarding/trail riding facility out of my house and stop being tied down going in to work on someone else's dream ya know. I guess my biggest question is....Do I spend more now on a nicer Duplex/Fourplex?/Single Family home that doesn't need much work (say $40,000-$50,000 max) and cash in more quickly, or do I buy a $5,000-$10,000 dump and pour some money into it? Also, for those of you who have flipped and do flip houses, would you recommend flipping the first house in order to pay off the initial loan and then buy another one in full to rent? Lastly, I am wanting to go 50/50 with another person, so I am curious as to how that works, and if there are benefits to that type of partnership? Thank you!! I'm all ears. Pretend I know nothing. I truly want to become financially independent, but my plan is in 5 years so I am just now starting to plan. Goal is to have the first house purchased by January of 2014. Truly, I appreciate your responses!!!

Arby