Intro from Rochester Minnesota!

[Erik Shewmaker]

Hello BiggerPockets community!

My name is Erik Shewmaker. I recently moved to Rochester, MN from Iowa City, IA with my wife so she could do her three year medical residency.

I am a partner in a successful restaurant in Iowa City and have another establishment under construction in the same area. After running the restaurant for over 5 years, I stepped back to a Director of Operations role that I can manage from a distance with bi-weekly visits. The plan is to help our managing partner get the new restaurant up and going when it opens in April of 2014 and then step into either a (not so) silent partner role 3-6 months after opening.

We own both of the properties for the restaurants and I was involved in another commercial real estate investment a few years ago. My residential real estate investing experience consists of turning our previous home into a rental property.

I am looking to invest in fix up rental properties and/or flips to challenge myself and keep me engaged. My credit is fantastic and I have some cash in the bank. There are a few things keeping me in the quicksand of not taking action (but not for long!)- 1. The new restaurant is set to open in a little over 6 months. The project is greatly over budget and I expect that more capital will need to be invested before we open. 2. My wife and I are currently only planning on being in Rochester for the length of her residency, which is three years. I am cautious to set down too many roots.

BiggerPockets has already proven to be a valuable resource and I look forward to becoming a member of their community.