Another new guy in Troy/Detroit area

[Tom Shilakes]

Hello BP!

My name is Tom and my wife and I are just starting to dangle our feet into the Real Estate pool. We are both full-time employees of two of the major auto companies in the area (Ford and VW) and have been able to eliminate the majority of our debt besides our primary residence and one car. We fully fund our Roth IRA's every year and take advantage of our companies 401k matching (free money!). With our long-term retirement goals rock solid we wanted to look into more mid-term investing for things like college funds and entertaining the idea of retiring earlier.

We've converted her old condo to a rental have just purchased another condo in the same complex. We're utilizing the surplus cashflow to pay off the first condo in less than 5 years and will do the same thing to pay the second off in another 4. We are being conservative to start, but we both acknowledge that if we play our cards right, this could be a very reliable way to build cashflow and wealth.

We are having a lot of fun setting up our "official" business and are looking to focus on high-quality, newer built condos "niche" (with higher rents and lower maintenance costs) which seem to be renting very well here in the northern suburbs of Detroit.

I'm really enjoying reading the forums here and the BP community seems like an excellent group of friendly, motivated, and experienced people that love what they do and enjoy sharing with everyone else. I look forward to becoming more knowledgeable and successful with all your help, and then helping others in return!

Regards,
~Tom