Hello, my name is Brian and I have started this blog to chronicle my journey to winning the rat race. I’ve decided that I would like to make a concerted effort to amass income-producing assets to provide security and freedom for my family. This blog is one of the ways I will use to hold myself accountable in reaching my ultimate goal of financial freedom. Hopefully, people will read this blog and hold me accountable as well.

I say this is “kind of” the beginning because the true beginning was when I sold my first home (a condo bought 142k, sold 240k) and bought a triplex (683k 2005). I was 27 years old at the time. I’m 46 now. That purchase provided monthly income that allowed me to travel, live somewhat comfortably, and have spending money. So began my life as a landlord, too. Since then, I have gotten married, bought another property (duplex 583k 2016) and a son was added to our family.

Now that we have some equity, we would like to put it to work. Our current plans are to add a detached unit and convert a garage to a unit at our duplex for a total of four units. After that is finished and the units are rented, we plan to demolish two units and the detached garage at our triplex, where we live, and build three larger units and another garage. The rents in the San Diego area are high so this will produce more cash flow. The problems we’re experiencing at the moment are everyone is so busy, it’s nearly impossible to get a callback. We need a architect first so we can have plans made to be approved by the city.

Another use for our equity is to acquire buy-and-hold properties in emerging rental markets. I have read many books in the past about real estate investing. It had been a while since I last read one. I’m now reading “Long-Distance Real Estate Investing” by David Greene. Reading it has given me the spark I need to get serious about investing. The next one is “Confessions of a Real Estate Entrepreneur” by James A. Randel. I’m tired of being an employee.

While reading the book, we have applied for a HELOC that is 6.47% and costs one point. The idea is to have access to cash for quick acquisitions and then refinance with a conventional loan to payoff the HELOC. We are waiting for approval on that.

In the meantime, I decided to start researching rental markets. My idea was to search the internet for “emerging rental markets” and count how many times each market was mentioned in the various articles. I came up with Phoenix, Raleigh/Durham, Seattle, Dallas, Austin, and Charlotte. Because the housing market is experiencing a downturn, my thought is to watch the markets for the time-being while trying to get access to funds. Once I decide on a market, I will then start creating a team of consisting of an agent, deal finder, contractor, property manager, lender, etc.

In order to hold myself accountable, I will write a blog entry twice a week. I haven’t decided yet what day, though.

Happy investing!