Just getting started (1 deal and counting!)

[Chris Hyde]

One thing I have figured out is I'm quickly becoming more and more obsessed with investment real estate. I'm about halfway through the book "How To Invest In Real Estate - The Ultimate Beginner's Guide" and am loving it! I've read several financial books over the last few years and have picked up many tricks along way and have a great monthly budget for the fam (wife and 2 little boys) and our finances are in great shape. I work full time in oil and gas but have been dabbling in real estate for the last year and a half or so.

I finally pulled the trigger on my first deal and have a single family residential investment property that my mom currently lives in. I'm not really cash flowing much as I cut her quite the deal to help her out but I will have it fully paid off in the next year or so as I've really buckled down on additional payments to principal. I definitely want to start with the niche of single family residential properties but I'm a little stuck on strategy for capital. Should I pull equity out of my rental and go by 3 or 4 more? Should I just pay it off completely, cash flow the monthly rent payments and invest it back into something somehow? I can't really go the 1031 route as my mom needs to stay living in it for several more years. I look forward to any help and am happy to answer any questions about anything as I know I didn't provide a ton of detail here...