I'll be buying a duplex and renting out half.

There is so much opportunity in a 40 mile radius and I'm a big fan of the house hackThere is nothing wrong with wholesaling and other parts of the business but it is all hard work.  

My primary lender, although most people refer to him as a hard money lender, I consider him a private lender, we have become good friends over the years and I have been able to reduce our interest rates by more than half of what we were paying four years ago.

I have about 230K equity in my primary residence, and I'm planning to take maybe half of that equity out as down payment for my next house to live, then rent out my current home.  

Half of the money goes to the HOA's insurance.

Congrats on your deal, but don't do it half way just because it's your friend.

I have been a member of BP for about a year and a half now and I love real estate.

Its already been a week and half since then.

I'm wanting to hold it for 5-10 years and then sell it.It is 2 miles from a large equestrian center and people ask to rent the 7 stall barn regularly.

thank you BenThank you JohnRegarding self-employment over a w-2 jobWhen I was just out of the Marine Corps and I had this job at Johnson Controls engineering firm because I was a science major, had a lot of calculus physics and chemistryMy job was to sell to developers and builders That wanted air and water  control devices and I was on straight commission basicallyI had like $20,000 in commissions that they  didn't pay me for I got really upset and at 25 yrs of age I didn't have very much EQ, and my emotions got the best me I basically even went to a lawyer and asked  how can I get my 20,000 in commissions here's the proof they owe me the moneyMy lawyer says it's gonna cost you 10,000 in legal fees to sue them at a minimum he's going to need that upfront as a retainerAnd then there was no guarantees I would get the 20 kThat's why I made the commitment at 25 never ever ever be a W-2 employee and I work as a 1099 alwaysThen I found a real estate 60-year-old mentor who taught me everything from distressed property to foreclosures to divorce to bankruptcy to probateI work for five hundred a week for 2 and a half years and then opened up my own business and did approximately 28 seller interviews a weekMy closing ratio in the beginning wasn't very good because I sucked at itBut with the good coaching from my teacher I got better and better and betterI quit after 2 1/2 years and started my own company on a shoestring it wasn't easyBut I made over hundred thousand dollars my first year if it wasn't for the teacher I would not know how to run a business and I would not know how to hire people and I would not know how to market and I would not know how to negotiateAnd you never stop learning because I made a Ton of money I was 29 and I made over 1 million and a quarter I rolled it back into the company which was a mistakeBut live and learn!