Greetings from Fernandina Beach, Amelia Island, FL

[Dustin DuFault]

[b]Hello All!

I just wanted to say how completely impressed I am with the wealth of talent on the boards here. My wife and I began investing in real estate when she was 20 and I was 21. I can't help but wonder how much further along with our rental business we would be, if I had been tied into a group like this one since the beginning!

I'm 28 now, and as it stands today, I feel that we are still relatively green. We do own 3 homes with 4 units in our name personally, and just setup an LLC this year which finally made it's first acquisition at a courthouse auction last month. My next move is to try and get financing on it ASAP so that I can continue growing our portfolio. As a short aside: if anyone knows of particularly great lending banks in Jacksonville, FL, I'm looking for leads, thanks!

Anyhow - my wife and I have proven to be an ideal team, and I wonder what either one would do without the other (okay: mostly me) - she has the perfect amount of tenacious grace to firmly, but kindly deal with tenants. I on the other hand have become handy enough to handle 95% of our repair and rehab work (although I sense the day will approach soon enough that in order to grow I will need to delegate some of that responsibility).

Our goal is to continue to build our real estate portfolio so that we can have a steady stream of income to assist in pursuing other entrepreneurial endeavors - and to be able to have a viable business to raise our children in an environment where they understand entrepreneurship, and will also have something to continue to build for their families.

Thanks for all you guys have put into the forums; I've spent a lot of time reading threads today and I'm certain that I will have much to learn going forward as well!

[Jon Klaus]

Welcome to BiggerPockets, Dustin. We had a great vacation at Amelia Island several years ago. A vendor paid for our stay at the Ritz Carlton, and now no other hotel can measure up for the kids. Anything affordable for cash flow there?

Speaking of kids, real estate investing can be a great family business. I especially like that you can be as active as you like, but then dial it back to being more passive later, or transfer operations to your kids.