New member from Milwaukee

[Nate R.]

Hey everyone, Nate from Milwaukee here.
Been follwing REI on and off since 2002-03 or so. Helped my siblings look for, evaluate and fix rental properties in the early 2000s. Always wanted to get into it myself, but I let life get in the way.

Bought a SFH no money down in 2006 to occupy with the thought of it becoming eventually a SFR. Refi'd the 2nd and took cash out, then, the market crashed, and I was way underwater. House was way worse than I realized, too. Dumped a lot of time and money into it, and it's still underwater. (Probably worth 40-45K, owe 54K on it.)

This year, my wife and I bought a duplex in a nicer area of town and moved into the upper. We've completed work on the SFH, and have that rented out as well. So went from no units in January to 2 now. But out of cash, have some debt, so planning on spending the next year or 2 learning more about investing while I pile some back up. (I've mostly been spending the last several years learning about remodeling, building science, etc. The upside of having a house that was a HUGE moneypit was being forced to learn how to do nearly everything myself)

So, here to learn more about deal analysis, financing, meet others in Milwaukee and soak up what I can. Mostly want to concentrate on buy and hold investing, I think, but am intrigued by note buying and the thought of property management as well.