Looking to restart my real estate investing career, after hitting some pitfalls!

[Chad Clinton]

Good Day Biggerpocket Family, I'm relatively new and was looking to start 2015 out with a bang. I've been out of real estate actively for about 5 years, but very eager to get back. My last endeavor as an investor ended with me getting burned in a major condo deal in Washington, DC. To fund the deal, I used a hard money lender and 2 of my rental properties as collateral assignment to secure the funding. It worked well on my first project, but the cost of the money was too expensive and I didn't really make a profit (rookie mistake on my part for being too eager and accepting what I could get in order to do the deal.) On my second project using the same formula, the results were even worse. My contractor got into an argument with the neighborhood ANC, who pushed to get a stop work order on my project. Long story short, I got behind on the schedule, which really hurt me since I was making "large" interest only payments.

I was forced to file for a bankruptcy to protect my assets as the hard money lenders came after me. Needless to say, this experience soured me on participating in real estate investing, but I've never lost the love for the business of real estate.

After years of maturing and learning on the sidelines, I'm really ready to get back! As a father raising a young son, I want to be able to provide the financial security that my family needs and I know that real estate is a great avenue for that.

I'd love to hear from all the savvy investors in this forum for suggestions on the best ways to restart my investing career!