Rocket Ship for lift off

[Christopher Labonte]

Good morning fellow BP members!

I've written a few posts, so I figured I'd catch anyone who cares up, and maybe get some other points of view on what I have going on right now.

ReCap- I bought my first rental property, a 4plex about 2 months ago.  Its finally at break even with 3 units filled.  I'm not too worried about the last one yet, I still have plenty of time to fill it.  I still have a bit of downpayment money left over so I'm gonna buy another 1 or 2 (depending on the deal and leverage).  

All that being said, I was in Colorado at a festival a few weeks back.  I stopped in Denver and was talking to a friend about what I'm doing and hes told me hes interested in throwing some money my way.  Once we parted ways and I was at the festival, he had a wedding to go to.  There, he was talking about what I told him to someone, who turns out to be an investor out there with a large amount of money available.  Obviously once he called, I became very excited.  I went into overdrive the last 2 weeks.  I became even more serious about locking down some properties so that I could demonstrate what I'm doing, as well as get the groundwork laid for the process.

Unfortunately, I'm having some problems.  For one, my friend/potential partner is nearly impossible to get on the phone, and I have to constantly bug him about the big investor and setting up a time for us all together.  I even had a property that we were suppose to buy together.  We ended up deciding not to, however it was 1002994889% more stressful because I couldn't get any of the information I needed from him to include him.  Now, I understand he has to work and is in the middle of buying his own house, but as far as I'm concerned if you want to be included in this stuff then you need to pick up the phone.  For that reason, even if when hes finally "settled" I'm not sure I'm interested in having him be a part of anything I'm doing.  Just doesn't seem like a good fit.  

This creates another problem- I'll loose contact with the potential investor.  The research path I followed to get ready for the investor wasn't wasted though- I now have the ground work of an actual business, and I can see the way to create it.  I'm in the middle of creating a business plan and researching funding options to replace the potential investor so I don't loose my momentum.  I'm currently looking at a small business administration loan of some such.

I was wondering if anyone had any experience with what I'm trying to do and if there are any tips or things I should avoid.  As always, I'm also looking for any input on my situation or decisions thus far.  I love having a discussion, so please don't hesitate!