Small multifamily investor looking for the next step

[JR Hinds]

Like most of you, I read Rich Dad, Poor Dad years ago and it opened my eyes. Around 8 years ago, I played Cashflow 101 and wondered why I wasn't investing in real estate. I was particularly attracted to growing a cash flow machine using multifamily properties.

Over the last 7 years, I've purchased 1 triplex and 2 duplexes. My wife is in nursing school, and I'm paying for it so that we don't have any loans when she graduates in 2 years. We're not planning to buy anything else until she graduates and starts making a good income (but I'm still contributing 15% of my income into my real estate investment account). One she starts working, we should be able to direct all of her income into our real estate investments.

Our target is to have 100 rental doors generating a net of at least $100 a month each. We don't intend to retire when we reach that goal, but $120,000 of passive annual income will certainly give us more financial freedom. We're hoping to hit our target in 7-10 years. Once we hit that target, we'll be able to set our next target. But for now, that's our main focus in real estate.

When I set up this target, my idea was to get 7-10 doors pretty quickly, and get some experience with small multifamily. After my wife's graduation, I planned to acquire a 25-35 door property (so that I could have on-site management). I figured that I could acquire 2 more 25-35 door properties in the years afterwards, and the last property would get us close to that 100-door target.

I don't have the knowledge or resources to flip or use any time-intensive real estate strategies right now. I realize that this limits my options, but I'm being realistic about my time.

I have a small business that takes 40 hours a week for 8 months of the year and 80-100 hours a week for the other 4 months of the year. I don't have the ability to dedicate much time to my real estate investments for those 4 months of the year, so I'm trying to create a machine that can work without a lot of attention.

So far, my plan is working well. I have property managers for those 3 properties and I just review the numbers once a month and chat with the property managers every month or two.

Since I started on this track, I've read as many books as I could find on the subject of creating passive income using multifamily properties. I've spent time on BP and I'm starting to be more active in the forums. I'm listening to a bunch of podcasts to learn more.

I'd like to ask the community what you think of my plan. Does it make sense? What holes can you punch in it? Where else can I gain knowledge and get an education?

Also, if I stay on track, my next leap will be a big one. What do I need to do to be ready to purchase a 25-35 unit property? Are there people on BP who have a plan like mine?

I'd love to chat with other people who are focused on multifamily. If you're reading this and you haven't pulled the trigger on your first investment property, I'm happy to help out. Please don't hesitate to reach out to me. If you're reading this and you're ahead of me, I'd love to pick your brain and learn from you.