Introduction - new member

[Michael Crane]

Hello BP community, 

I (28M) signed up and have been lurking the forums and articles for a few weeks.  I keep getting prompted to introduce myself, so here goes.  I live and work in Wisconsin, specifically the Milwaukee greater metro area.  I recently decided that I need an alternate income stream, and that I hate paying my landlord (for a variety of reasons that are not relevant here).  As such, I want to try my hand at purchasing an income property with 2-4 units, live in one of them (perhaps with a roommate), and try to build up from there.  I work as an attorney (but not in real estate).  I have enough for a down payment for up to my pre-approval amount if I choose to put down 20%. 

So, what I have done so far:

I signed up here. I bought "What Every Real Estate Investor Needs to Know About Cash Flow ...and 36 other key financial measures" by Frank Gallinelli. I read it all the way through, and understood about 2/3 of it. I identified the limited neighborhoods that I would want to live in, which I marked on a map with highlighting. I created accounts on Zillow and Trulia and have been looking at properties in a very casual sense, not doing outside research, rather just seeing what is available. I made an excel spreadsheet based on the book, which still needs some help as some of the calculations are a little confusing and others I do not think I need or do not care about. I contacted my personal bank (US Bank) and got pre-approved for a loan with a purchase price of 320K with 20% down. I contacted 2 other financial institutions and am working on getting pre-approval from them as well. I looked into FHA loans and determined the cap amount in my area. I saved up and/or was given enough to have a down payment. I talked about the idea with my parents and a few friends who are all more or less supportive.

What I am planning to do next:

I think I am not going to get a real estate agent. I think that I can do most anything that my agent will do and I want to see if I can use the 2% as a negotiation tool. I want to look into how my city does foreclosures and consider pursuing this option. I want to finalize up the pre-approval from the other two lenders. I want to find a short list of properties and actually start running the numbers on them for real instead of the quick benchmark calculations. I want to take a "how to landlord" class offered by the city which I looked up but have not registered for yet. I need to develop my leasing and other LL documents, which should not be too hard given the examples I have on hand. I want to look into starting a small business, perhaps an LLC which I can use to run and manage the property, also insulate myself from a little risk. Hopefully things go well and I purchase another property shortly after the first, which I would want the business to hold and operate if possible (this is not a well developed plan yet). I want to buy a property and be ready to move in by the end of May 2017. I want to still have my shirt by the end of it all.

Long term:

I want to be able to hold many properties under a company (with my name on it) and attain the true definition of "wealthy" - that passive income exceeds my living expenses in the lifestyle I want.  Sell it all and move to a private island where I can die. 

I do not think I have any questions right now.  I am happy to answer anything people want to ask, but I may be somewhat limited with personal information.  I am also happy to take any comments, observations, suggestions, etc.   This is now long and I feel I am rambling, so until next time. 

- Mike