Newbie from the middle of a cornfield in IL

[Ryan B.]

Howdy y'all,

I have been reading the forums of this site non-stop for awhile now and figured I should finally dip my toes in the water.

My name is Ryan and I am a newbie to the real estate investment business. My wife and I bought a fixer upper house several years ago and I finally finished it January 2010. Due to the family growing, we wanted to move to a larger house in a smaller town. We decided to keep our little fixer upper and turn it into our first rental home. Our plan is to keep the house for about another year and then sell and capture all the sweat equity that I put into it. We are planning putting the profit into a 1031 and reinvesting into other rental properties.

We have a long term goal of someday me being able to quit my full time job and become a full time landlord. Our plan is to invest in lower middle class/blue collar rental properties that we will buy and hold.

I have to admit that I get a kick out of reading MikeOH's posts, and yes I did buy his book. It is really scary (just kidding) that I find myself with what sounds like the same attitude and mentality as Mike. Only problem is we are not allowed to conceal carry in IL (guess that is where the 2x4 in the truck comes in handy).

I don't know what else to really say, but I will take any advice/criticism that anyone has to offer. I am like a sponge and I want to absorb as much knoweldge as possible.

Thanks,

Ryan