Investing Goals, am I making sense?
I have been listening to podcasts and browsing this site and a few others for a couple months now trying to narrow down my actual goal in RE. Currently I am involved in a mid-size residential remodeling company with a pretty stable workload which supports myself and my family. At first my goal was to flip houses, since I am very handy it would seem logical. However the more I think about it, I am fearful it would take up too much of my time, my resources, and ultimately take away from my primary business. I am leaning towards going the buy and hold route. I think a smaller, steady stream of cash makes more sense for me, and ultimately should require a significantly less time (managing) than flipping would.
My company owns a 7 unit industrial property, and I manage a 10 unit commercial property so I am somewhat familiar with the overall landlord role. I have no real experience with residential rentals yet. Would the first logical step be opening an LLC for the rental property to be purchased with? I have good credit, some cash (homes are pricing in my area, I don't have 20% down), so I am thinking I could be a guarantor for the loan if need be. Am I totally off base with starting an LLC first? Does it make sense to go this route vs. the flip?