Buy and hold strategy

[John McConnell]

Hello all. I think this is my 3rd or 4th post on here. Very brand new to all of this and just getting my feet wet. This month I will be seeing my very first REIA meetings in NH/MA. Im on podcast 11 and have plowed through a few books on real estate and business with more on the list (if any of you need books I have a library that is accessible online just message or email or text me). My current situation is I am a full time career soldier in the Army and I have about 5-6 years left before I can retire. I am also very new to my local area just moving here in Feb (NH). I have been thinking about business strategies and what I would like to see happen in real estate investing for myself. I would like to get a live in 4 plex. This will do two things for me. Get me started in real estate (buy and hold strategy I would like to follow) and channel my current rent money into my own business property. I have no money to put down but I think I can secure decent private loan. I am starting my search and will be investigating and asking many questions to my local REIA's starting this week. I am guessing I need to get a business entity established with proper lawyer/accountant/property manager set up before I buy. My plan is to get as much of a RE Investing business set up before I retire. I figure 5 years is plenty of time if I jump into it now and keep pushing hard on the goal. If you were in my shoes what would be your very first move? Thank you so much in advance for all of your help and thank you all for contributing to such a great source of knowledge!

Regards,

John