If you are going to do any renovations or updates to a property yourself and still maintain a career that is separate from real estate make sure you do not start too many projects at once to where the home is completely unlivable.

thank you very much for all your comments, I was curious about the LLC as it maybe an easier way to separate the family business part from my own, since the capital source, expenses and earnings will be separate I'm trying to keep it as clean as possible while leveraging when possible. everyone's comments are aligned and I will talk to a CPA, by the way!

Best word to describe my real estate investing career is "roller coaster". 

In other words, it includes net gain from the disposition of nonbusiness property and property held in passive business activity.High-income individuals are subject to an NII tax equal to 3.8% of the lesser of: [IRC Sec. 1411(a)]1) Net investment income (NII) or2) The excess (if any) of modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) over the threshold amount.MAGI defined.MAGI is adjusted gross income (AGI) increased by any foreign earned income exclusion, net of the deductions and exclusions disallowed with respect to the foreign earned income. 

Hi @Annaliese Sanchez, welcome to BP and congrats on taking the first step in your investing career! 

Hello everybody,
I am trying to find answers on this new phase of my journey. I bought my first 2 rentals in 2021, and now I find myself a little stocked since I don't have much more money to keep affording down paym...

Congrats on taking the next step in your investing career--it sounds like you already have a solid footing with the experience you've gained from the 4-family.I'm an investor and investor-agent based in Northern NJ, so always happy to connect and expand the network.

I know i need to start looking more into tax strategies.I understand that save/buy is a (relatively) slow  way to expand.. but i'm also not looking for a "Boom"I'd be hard-pressed to refi... i've decent  rates and for now i'm looking at cashflow until i'm not dependant on my W2 job ( i think  that at 7 units i could "get by"..barely) then i can  move towards being more concerned on long term wealth/retirement/equityThe rentals have their own business account that i do not dip into** I do not pay myself rent, BUT the business account does pay my personal gas/electric.from my W2 earnings i spend about $1300/mo on everything ( from car insurance to eating out), rest is savedany new downpayments are a mix of business account and savingsWith the 5 total units ( 4 rented; 1 personal use)  I "Cashflow" about  $1K/mobut that number does not account for any CapEx.What might you change/suggest about my strategy?

Lots of people are OK with that because a lot of times people buying in that 2 to 5 million dollar range are more "sophisticated" than someone buying their first home or investment property and they know their way around the deal and don't need guidance, they just want to get the deal.If you feel comfortable with the deal process and economics then I wouldnt worry about what the listing agent is going to earn but if you are worried about getting hosed, you probably should be and hire an agent to work on your behalf.

Have any of you started part-time while you finished another job/career and then transitioned to full-time after?