New from the Hampton Roads, VA area... well kinda. BP members from other locations, I would love your input as well.

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Hello BP. My name is Darryl P'ford from Hampton Roads, VA. I've been watching the forums in the background for quite a while now and decided to join / share my introduction to RE. So please if you have any incite, ideas, comments, or anything please share. I would love to pick the brains of all. No colorful intros here, I'll get straight to it……

I woke up one morning at the age of 41 realizing I had little to no retirement.  After research (Thanks BP), I found all the other vehicles appeared to be too slow for me to acquire financial freedom as quick as I would like.  So I am turning to rental properties.  Even though I see the liability of risk (which makes me nervous), I don’t see any better options out there.  I already have a good friend that is a real estate agent.  I actually used him to purchase my townhouse.

Actions taken to make this happen??  Last year I quit my job and decided to work in the Middle East.  I either sold, gave away, or trashed all my worldly belongings (best feeling ever).  My friend introduced me to a property manager that’s been nothing but great.  My townhouse is rented out but I’m in the negative by $200.00 per month (thinking of selling it after I acquire my other properties).  I never knew I would make this decision at the time of purchasing the property so I paid little as possible on the down payment.

Fast forward to one year later. As of today, I paid off $40,000.00 in debt (all I have left in debt to pay is the mortgage itself), so far I've saved $25k for my first rental (my goal is reaching 60k before I actually take action and I'm afraid to purchase without creating an LLC first). My credit score is excellent. All this in one year. Here in the Middle East, the only expense I have is my cellphone bill and food. Anything else you can think of is paid for (I live rent free, all utilities covered, vehicle free, etc). I make 6 figures but get taxed like a McDonald's employee (thanks to tax exemption up to $100,800).

Please comment if you have ideas what you would do if you were in my situation.  Is 60k overkill?  Am I thinking too hard and early about LLCs?  I want to knock out as many properties as possible within 3 years. Keep in mind, I’m only looking for a monthly cash flow of $3,000 to $3,500 a month after PTI and other expenses are paid (low number huh? Haha).  Any advice would be appreciated.