My wife and I are finishing up some projects on our current SFH and then we're going to do final financial preparations to be able to jump when we find our deal.

I'm new at REI and I have a broker who would partner with me, but himself is overextended financially. 

I have owned 1 home in the past (bought at the trough during the Financial Crisis, renovated, lived in it, rented it for a year, and then sold it for quite a bit more than we paid).

So based off this calculation I determined that my portfolio is strong enough to move on with my expansion plan into a new market.Business expenses as % of total expenses : 70%   1) Fixed Expenses:        a)Monthly Mortgages: 45% b)Property Taxes: 18.7%c)Utilities Expenses: 14.8% d)Licenses & Insurance:  5.4% 2) Variable expense - Water bills + repair expense : 16%  Personal Expense as % of total expenses: 30% My monthly living expensesa)Housing: 39.7% b)Child Care: 25.4%c)Living expense: 22.2% d) Food: 7.9 %e) Insurance: 4.8Income 1) Total Income - 100%  A) Rental Income: 42%  B) Wage income (W-2) : 26 %  C) House Flipping Revenue: 23%  D) Property Management Revenue: 5%  E) Stocks/Dividends: 4% Please let me know if you would like help walking through this process as it has been super helpful to understand my financial situation or send you the spread sheet I used.  

I am meeting with banks and some local connections I have with real estate agents to start getting a feel on my position financially as well as get a feel for the local market.

I'm a strong believer in keeping your people first and while the goal is to be able to have financial freedom so that I can travel around the world, I want to be able to make sure that I take care of home first and give back.I found a meetup in the next couple weeks actually and I am so excited to attend and network!

Offer your services as a financial analyst on a consulting basis. 

Get a rentroll, leases and financials and have an inspection done by a licensed inspector.

Options only obligate you to sell at a certian price. 

I have made my share of mistakes and they can be mentally draining and financially painful.