New here, looking to get started in real estate renting

[Daniel Klebba]

Hi all! I am brand new to the site and I have always wanted to own and rent multiple properties as a source of secondary income. Being new to the site I'm looking for your best "getting started" tips that you can offer. Here is a little about me: I'll be turning 31 this month, my wife and I have two little ones at home. My daughter is 16 months and my son was just born a week ago. My wife currently stays home with the kids and I work in sales for a commercial fleet leasing company. I've been with the same company since college (8.5 years) and I make a decent income. We have some money saved in the bank ($7k) I have company stock in the amount of $4k, and have a good amount in my 401k. We did take a loan against my 401k in addition to the money we made on our first house to round out the 20% on our home we bought two years ago. I am very interested in purchasing a rental but my biggest concern right now is that the housing market is still on an uptick and I really don't want to buy at the peak. With that said I want to get all my ducks in a row to take advantage when the housing market slows down. What are your thoughts? Thank you, Dan