Long time lurker, first time introduce-er

[Nathan Hall]

Hey friends, I just figured I'd finally introduce myself. I got into BP's podcast about 1.5 years ago due to a longer commute for work, and have been a lurker/occasional poster on the site for about a year on and off. But I never did a proper introduction that posted successfully, so I figured I'd do one now. Quick facts: 39 Male Happily married 3 kids Former military Work in Northern Virginia/NoVA Read Rich Dad, Poor Dad in college, loved it, and didn't bother pursuing any of its tenents or suggestions until a few years back :) From a real estate perspective, in January 2008 I landed my first real civilian job after spending the previous seven months homeless, unemployed, and freshly divorced (it was a culmination of bad luck/decisions/timing, and leaving the service to boot). I didn't own or owe much, at that point.The new job paid well, I had a cheap studio apartment that I used infrequently due to overseas deployments, and things were looking up. In late October/early November 2008, I was in Mosul, Iraq and finally noticed that the economy was going poorly (I'm slow at times), so I decided that if it was still tanking by December when I returned home, I'd buy a foreclosure and get out of my studio. There were a lot of foreclosures. I did that and got a 5 bd, 3.5 bath in Manassas, VA for $149.9k (1968 sq ft). I lived there for the next 9 years, through another not great marriage and into a really happy one. In 2016 I was blessed with the news that my current wife and best friend was pregnant, something that I didn't think was in the cards for me. And I had two awesome stepkids to boot, already! Couple that with what had become an obnoxious 11 mile commute and one day, after 1 hour and 49 minutes in the car coming home, I just told my pregnant wife "let's pack our ****, we're moving to West Virginia." I don't expect this anecdote to resonate with anyone who hasn't dealt with NoVA traffic or seen the Eastern panhandle of WV, but I'll eat the commute for less people and a nicer home. Happily.That was my second house. It was a short sale that my wife found, a historic property from 1884 for $325k, no repairs needed. 6800 sq ft, 9 bd, 6 ba. $1772 a month out of pocket for PITI. Done deal. And I managed to rent out my Manassas home for positive cash flow of $350-ish a month. I love this new house, and it will probably be the last home I ever have an emotional bond with thanks to Bigger Pockets lol. Since finding their podcast I've gone all in and listen to inordinate amounts of podcasts, lectures, courses, and books during my commute. Plus other, non-RE stuff when I know that I can't make a move on the market. Thousands of hours of learning, honestly. After a couple of months following the move, though, I was Zillowing and noticed what seemed to be deals. To cut a too long story short, listening to BP and analyzing things, that year we also purchased a duplex 3/1.5, 2/1, $96.5k) thanks to a 401k loan. It cash flows for about $900 per month (we even had to do an eviction and learn some of Brandon Turner's tenant screening tips first hand, but I never went out of pocket).Two months ago we bought a single family 2 bd, 1.5 ba and immediately cash flowed it for $450 a month (another 401k loan, $39.5, 2 bd, 1.5 ba). As of yesterday, I have another duplex under contract with tenants in place that should cash flow for around $400 per month in the short term, then $700 in the long term (2 bd, 1 ba; 1 bd, 1 ba, recently renovated clean space). My question, I guess, if one is allowed in introductions, is...am I leveraging too much? I don't really care about my 401k because I don't contribute (right now, I probably will next year to offset income) so it is mostly employer money. I have no faith in 401ks or pensions. I'm fine/not encumbered with the payroll deductions. I'm paying myself with the payback and interest, after all. The down payment for this latest though is from a HELOC; the cash flow is still there as outlined above but I am curious if I missed anything. The payment is a minimum of $63, I think, for the interest only period. I plan on just paying the $300 (rounding up) for the bulk of the loan and paying off the balance when I sell the place in Manassas. It still works by my math. One last note is that I've been putting 25% down on all of my properties, with the understanding that it reduces my "profitability" but if I can afford it, it also buttresses me against any future downturn until I can do the RR portion of BRRRR. Thanks for reading if you made it this far, and I appreciate your thoughts!