You all are fantastic, thank you! This is exactly the type of info I am looking for. I'll do my best to address each person line by line, apologies in advance if I'm managing this thread incorrectly.
@Joshua McMillion - I won't completely rule out house hacking, but I like my personal space and I'm willing to spend a little bit of money to have that even though it is not the best financial decision. If I house hack, I'm leaning towards a short-term vacation rental on my personal residence. Who knows, maybe I'll find a great multifamily unit and suck it up for a few years. Great advice on having an LLC, taxes, and umbrella coverage.
@Travis Steinemann - I will 100% buy J Scott's book on estimating rehab costs. I'm fairly handy and plan on doing about 50%-90% of the labor myself, but estimating costs is not something I've dealt with, that's solid advice. Do you have any tips for finding lenders? I have a lender I've worked with three times and like him, but his fees are a bit high.
@AJ H. - based on what you said and others, I'll probably try to buy 4-10 (whatever the max is) units in my personal name and/or my wife's name, get an umbrella policy, then start an LLC once when I've reached my max personal mortgages. I do plan on spending a solid weekend with my wife creating a written strategy. I believe the BP podcast with Cameron Herold (Vivid Visions) addressed this. After we move into our new house, goals and strategies are going to be my first priority. Currently, I do not need cash flow. My family lives comfortably enough on my fixed income. I won't allow us to change our lifestyle or budget until we have 10+ units. I'd like to buy & hold for appreciation, but receive small dividends so that I can work towards financial freedom.
@Ian Walsh - absolutely, thank you. Do you have any tips for finding lenders? One podcast said to almost pit lenders against each other for the best deal.. thoughts?
@Sean Ross - I wish I had found BiggerPockets before I had kids! Being on this forum before children is a wise investment in itself. One of my goals is to be able to gift each of my children a cheap duplex when they get married or graduate college. A friend of mine was gifted a single-family residence when he was younger, it really set him up for great financial success by the time they were in their 40s. Something I forgot to mention in my list, I've worked remotely for the last 7 years. With my job, some days are busy, other days are slow or intermittent. All I need is my computer & internet to earn my salary. My goal is to find the right BRRRR properties, refurbish a lot of things myself during my slow hours while my kids are at school. My wife can help me paint & install LVP, then I'll play general contractor and hire subs for specific projects I can't complete myself. I'll look into 1031 exchange, thanks!
@Dave Foster - nope, not flight school or military, we're not even moving for a job, can you believe that? My wife and I have disliked how CA has been managed for many years, we're hoping to start a brighter future for our children. I can work remotely, so there's no reason to stay in CA where cost of living is so high. Moving to FL should free up some regular income too. I agree, buying a house and renting is never a bad option as long as it makes dollars & sense. I will try to connect with @Avery Carl once we get there. She sounds like a great resource. The first house we're buying in FL is going to be a rental, we could have bought much bigger/nicer, but I'm trying to reinvest my CA profits instead of wasting it on a big house. Hopefully, it will be a good landing pad and eventually a rental.
