Newbie From the Capital Region of NY

[Chris Silveri]

HI BPers,

My name is Chris and I live in the Capital Region of NY (Albany) and after lurking and listening to the podcasts for some time I figured it was finally time to introduce myself.

After 21 years as a TV meteorologist I am currently unemployed and about to get married in July. I figure this is a good point in my life to make some changes so I have more control over my income. I have come to the realization that real estate needs to be part of my FI plan. I think this is an opportunity since I became an "accidental landlord" this year after I moved in with my fiancee. I was not planning on renting out my house, but it did not sell and I basically rented it out at cost due to desperation.

My tentative plan is to buy our first home for my fiancee and myself in about a year and to rent out my fiancee's current house (per her approval) to start our portfolio of real estate holdings. Then to reassess our strategy after that.

I have a couple of questions:

1) Is this a reasonable plan?
2) Should I even consider another single family rental before buying the home for ourselves?
3) Besides BP, Can you list any other resources (Books, Podcasts, Videos) etc? I have read some of David Bach's "Finish Rich" series as well as the "Rich Dad" stuff.

Finally, Best piece of advice for a newbie who is excitedly cautious?

Thanks all for taking the time to read this.

Cheers,

Chris