Furniture is expensive Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

@Philip OlivierYour tax profile is a little bit more complicated and such I think you should hire a professional(I am a little biased).Since you make $100,000 from your full-time job - you should be eligible to deduct the losses(if you have them) from your rental property so long as you don't have significant income from other sources including the short term rentals. 

Now a family man and young professional I am ready for the next chapter in my life.

Now a family man and young professional I am ready for the next chapter in my life.

Houston RE professional community,I just moved from Dallas to Houston.

These are professionals with additional training and a stricter code of ethics.

I've loved real estate since we first started looking at buying our first place but for the past year or so I've been wanting to take a more serious and professional approach to it.

I have a wide professional network of high income earners who do not do anything with their money and I have already started the vetting process of talking to some of them... mostly randomly at kids' birthday parties. 

But it shows how important it is to run a professional business from day one: have a buisness name, a business address (I have a UPS PO box with a real street address) and handle yourself like a company would.

I am exploring my next move.