Grievances of doors 3, 4, and 5.

[Joseph Miller-Hall]

It has been three years since my last real estate purchase. 

In those years: my family grew by 2, we bought our personal residence to fit our family of 5, and paid in full for our wedding/ honeymoon. 

With the investing, it is almost to the point of re-analysis-paralysis, if that is a thing. I know the system works, I've gone through a lot of grunt work to make the first two deals profitable, and I see the equity building in the first two purchases. And yet, it seems like I am stuck...?

What I have set in place right now is a goal to save up $10k by May (which is very likely to happen before that) and use those funds to purchase door #3. 

It feels like this is the long stretch that is not touched on by books or blogs or other materials... Everyone and their mother writes about the first purchase and taking the leap... But rarely do I see anything on the anticipations of purchase 3, 4, or 5. Whereas the equity of your first purchases is still building up and is not enough to be used to buy more real estate... Whereas your portfolio is growing and performing, but is not entirely autonomous in the sense that you would never have to invest your own funds again. The struggle of tangibly knowing real estate is a great vehicle but being stuck in the slow-motion-buildup of the snowball. 

Where I am at right now: I feel like taking small daily actions and disciplines in the direction of my goals will break me from the rut and set up opportunities. Saving up the capital on my own with a full family will take time, but it is happening. 

Trying to keep my nose to the grindstone and keep the spirits up as I roll this snowball a little more each day.  

[Nathan Gesner]

@Joseph Miller-Hall I don't think the answer is much different than it would be for a first-time buyer. You have to do a certain amount of prep, but at some point you have to realize you'll never be 100% certain or safe. Build an 80% solution, then act. Once you've done that and realize nobody died or lost their limbs, you can take a deep breath, rinse, and repeat.

I think you're taking the right steps. You know it worked before. The world hasn't changed while you were away, so trust that you're capable and press forward.

You need more than a few doors to make yourself independently sustainable. I have 33 units and still put personal money towards additional investments. I won't stop that until I'm ready to stop working, which won't happen for another 20+ years unless something dramatic changes.