Greetings from Franklin, TN

[David Burgess]

Hello!

I'm new to BiggerPocket, and real estate investing in general.  I know next to nothing, but thanks to the podcasts and the website, I'm learning more each day. 

... I mean, I have a network of investors, and own properties in all 52 states  :-)

A little about me:  I am married to the best wife in the world, and I have a good day job.  We are in our forties, debt free (except for our house, which we are making progress on paying off).  We haven't saved up as much as I would like for retirement, and that got me looking into investments, which led to passive income, which led to real estate, which led me here.  

I do have a newbie question, and while there may be a better place in the forum to ask it, I'll plead ignorance, and toss it our here.  I'm paranoid about debt and loosing my money, but even more so about losing someone else's money.  I hear everyone say that you can only get so far using your own money and personal loans before you have to start finding other sources of money to make deals.  Any stories about people buying rental properties with cash outright, and then parlaying the cash flow into the next property?  (Basically holding a single mortgage at a time, but putting everything into a fast payoff before getting the next property.)  I know it would be a big trade off in speed for security, and if something happens to the property, you've got all your eggs in one basket, just wondering is anyone was successful with this strategy?

I've been very happy to find this site, and I've really been enjoying the Biggerpockets podcasts. Glad to be here, thanks to Joshua and Brandon, all the blog posters, and podcast guests for the great information!!

Thanks,

David