Five years into rental investing and feeling like I've plateaued.

[Patrick Gault]

I'm in need of some guidance for taking my investments to the next phase/level. I bought my first duplex five years ago in Anchorage, Alaska and then bought a triplex down the road two years later. Three years ago, I transitioned the duplex into a triplex. So I'm sitting on two triplexes, the first bought wit my VA loan, the second bought through FHA. They are both doing well. But I made some rocky decisions along the way that were great learning points and that did not sink the ship. Mostly, I went too fast and spent more than I could handle on remodels and I am crawling out of that debt right now. Luckily, I net above the mortgages (~$1450 for the first property $1025 on the second). So the debt is being whittled away at a steady pace. My goal is to continue acquiring properties and eventually pay one off by shoveling a portion of the net from all the properties into one of the mortgages.

My question is more of an opening up to ideas.  Where would you go from here?  I'm feeling a bit stagnant.  The past five years and the associated learning curve has left me with little expendable cash so I need to play the waiting game for a bit and build some capitol.  But as I do that, I'd like to start turning the gears in a good direction and one that will help me build on the foundation I have so far.  

So, I appreciate any advice that anyone is willing to offer.

[Aaron K.]

Sometimes REI isn't flashy or exciting, you might just have to embrace the grind as you build up reserves for your next acquisition.