Anyone have any advice on my situation?

[Simon Everett]

My friend and I have been talking about getting into real estate for a long time. 5 years or more of talk. Now we are finally to the point that we HAVE to do something about it. We both work full-time careers. Live about 5 hours apart. We have talked about going in as partners in rental properties (SFR, duplex, slowly building up to large apartments). Should form an LLC and go in as partners in a real estate investment business? Should we individually build our portfolios independently? Another piece of the puzzle is my wife and I just purchased our first home. We considered doing house hacking but ultimately she wasn't willing to do that.

What would you do with this dream? We ultimately want to build a business that replaces our current careers

[Brandon Rush]

Hey Simon,

As many say, your first investment purchase will probably not be your best, so don't drive yourself too crazy on the first one. My advice, pick an area of real estate that is most interesting to you which aligns with your long term goals, and make a purchase in the next 90 days. 5 years is a long time to be thinking about investing. Imagine what your life would look like now if you had picked up a property or two in the last 5 years. 

In terms of partnering, you need to make sure this is an individual that you are 120% comfortable working with. Purchasing property together is not like a friendship where you can have differences with one another and just decide not to talk anymore. Its like being married. If things do not work out, it may get ugly, especially since there is money at stake.  My recommendation, buy your first investment property yourself and tell your partner to do the same. Doing this will allow you two to share the same experience and see how the other deals with managing their property. You will learn many things such as their management style, how well they can run a business, their risk tolerance and etc. If you want to partner now, do something short term such as a flip. If that works out, do another. Between all of this, you will truly know if this person is a fit for you as a long term business partner. 

Go out a buy yourself a property! Good luck on your journey.