Newbie from Frederick, Maryland

[Meghan Custer]

Hi BiggerPockets! 

My name is Meghan - I am interested in learning all I can about becoming a buy and hold rental investor. 

My hands-on experience with RE is minimal - I purchased a foreclosure in 2009 and renovated it with my father. That home is now my family's primary residence. We have equity there, but my husband and I will be selling that property and using the profits for the down payment on a new home that we are already in the process of building. Because of that, keeping the current home to use as a first rental isn't in the cards. My father-in-law is the contractor for the new build, and with the discount he's giving us, we'll end up with over $100K equity in the new home after it's all said and done - I plan on using the new equity to finally get the ball rolling.

I'll need to keep my 9-5 for a few years, but I hope to eventually make enough in rental income that I can stay home with our kids. For now, I won't be able to devote full time hours to managing my rentals, so I'm thinking I may need to slow progress down and use a management company.

I'm curious if anyone has any tips for someone just starting out in the business who also has to work full time? How did you start out?