Newish Investor from Aurora, CO

[Andrea P.]

Hello,

I thought it was time I stopped lurking and said hello and introduce myself. In the last month or so I have set my mind on wanting to acquire real estate as an investment intentionally instead of through circumstance and I ended up here to learn more.  

Nice to meet you all in advance. More about me if you care to read.  

Where I have going for me (related to REI):

• I have a 3 bedroom townhouse in Lafayette CO that currently rents for $1725/month (Mortgage +HOA $1200/month). I bought in Oct 2013 and it has been renting since September 2015. Come next year I will have 2 years of rental income showing up on my tax returns. I manage it myself.

• A condo, in Aurora, I rent out the spare bedroom. Bought in Aug 2015.   
• Both properties bought with conventional mortgages and 20% down.  (I am by nature a saver). And both before were acquired without knowledge of real estate investment. But I did buy both properties with having roommates in mind (house hacking).  And when I lived in the townhouse I made the biggest newbie mistake in the book and rented the spare rooms to family. Now that I have tenants and roommates renting from me that are not friends or family that I got to screen myself with criteria I set myself, it's been a fantastic experience. *knock on wood* 
• Good credit. 750-810 range
• Full time job as a graphic designer
• ~$30,000 in non-retirement savings and investment accounts

What I hope to achieve

Financial independence within 10-15 years (~$4000/month). I have found that my interests and hobbies change often and they don't always seem to align with an ability to make money (besides perhaps being a nerd for personal finance and finding new ways to be frugal). I would love to be able to pursue whatever I'm into at any given moment full time and not worry about if the bills can get paid.  I don't want to wait until I'm 60+ to have this freedom.  And since I'm not married, real estate as a backup income is even more appealing.

What I'm interested in

At the moment I'm primarily interested in buy and hold single family and small multifamily properties in the Denver- Boulder area, South Denver and South Aurora preferred, that are cash flow positive. And to acquire a new property as funds allow every 1-2 year.