First deal done- Next steps with uncertain financial future...

[Samuel Merrick]

Hello BP-

A little about my situation: I've been living on the road, working as a musician on a steady running touring Broadway show for the past two years, making an amazing salary. I've been fortunate enough to save a chunk of money, some of which I recently used to make my first deal, buying a single family home in East Nashville, thats already rented out and cash flowing $350/m. I have a trusted team in place already and truly want to continue to invest in that general area.

However, despite the paycheck, I have to come off the road at some point for my own sanity’s sake (maybe in a year from now?). I want to continue further down this path of real estate investing but I feel that there's an expiration date for me since the W2 will not always have my back. I don’t want to by too much too fast but also don’t squander my ability to get financing. I realize there is no clear cut solution to this and I ultimately have to be the one to grab the bull by the horns (which I'm doing by absorbing as much real estate related content as possible), but I'm more just curious if anyone else has ever been in a similar situation where you felt like the clock is ticking. Would love to hear anyone else's experiences. Thanks in advance.

Sam

[Dan Schwartz]

@Samuel Merrick have you set up a business for your music and registered it with any state? As a fictitious name and/or an LLC, as you prefer? My loan underwriter recently told me that if the business has been around for more than five years, they might be able to look at only one tax return instead of averaging the last two. We haven't gone this route yet, but I find this underwriter to be very reliable. Being a business also helps musicians now that you can't deduct your gear on Schedule A anymore. Business formation could be an easy, low-cost tool in your belt for the future.