I am continuing to make payments on the existing mortgage from the payments received from my buyer, which I am assuming is a characteristic of a wrap-around mortgage where the seller acts as the financier for the difference between the existing mortgage and the sale price.

For example we pay our own income taxes, broker splits and all of our other expenses directly out of what we make including required E&O insurance, MLS dues, licensing fees, Board of Realtor dues, continuing education costs, marketing, advertising, office fees/rent, transaction coordinator/ assistant fees, health insurance, car insurance and maintenance, gas, tires, software, retirement fund, etc.We are not W2 employees with payroll taxes already taken out of our paychecks, company-paid health insurance and matching retirement account plus a guarantee of at least 40 hours paid work per week, sick pay, paid vacation… none of that.So if you’re thinking you’ll be able to pay an hourly wage typical of a W2 hourly employee like $50-85/hr… that’s definitely not going to work.

@Sam Ojo here are a few ways of continuing to scale.1.

Continue to learn and save right now.

I will be starting an internship/co-op with 60k salary at the beginning of June after finishing my Junior year and will continue on for 15 months until August of 2026, in which I will then finish my senior year of classes back at Purdue 2026-2027.

As the years have progressed, I've seen a healthy combo of appreciation & cashflow has continued to increase as market rents have gone up.To start off, I'd attend some local meet ups and network a bit, and start analyzing some deals.

If you’re looking to continue to invest in your backyard, it helps to network with as many locals in the industry as you can.

CA, in total continues to lose 100k's of population and continues to add onerous legislation, including the state rent cap they passed a few years ago (doesn't apply to sfr's though).I am not sure why anyone would want to jump in the deep shark infested waters right before feeding time, unless you have a clear proven strategy, or a very long time horizon.

Yes, and the saga continues.

We continue to look near our existing properties for new investment opportunities and to use the equity we've built up.