Aloha!  Finally set up a profile.  Been following Bigger Pockets articles and podcasts on Facebook for quite some time.  David Greene's book on Long-Distance Real Estate investing convinced me to become actively involved in the Bigger Pockets community. 

My wife, daughter, and I are lucky to call Kailua, HI home.  I grew up in the South working as a financial advisor after college and before joining the military. The Navy brought me to Hawaii in 2006 and I never left. I got my real estate license in 2014 before leaving Active Duty for the Reserves. We wanted to start a family and live a life on our terms without the separation of regular submarine deployments. Real estate investing has been the key in helping us make this transition.  Most of my real estate sales business is representing buyers/sellers in the purchase/sale of their primary residences.

My first buy and hold investment property, a Gulf Coast vacation rental, was purchased in 2011 without a real plan and was more just a way to diversify assets...so many unforeseen regular costs kept it from cash flowing for several years. My wife purchased a condo in 2005 before we met, eventually becoming an accidental landlord after moving to Hawaii...we still own and manage today. In 2016 I was able to do an off-market deal of a SFH in Hawaii, that I now have rented as 2 separate units with great cash flow. Recently exchanged my first property for a portfolio of single and multi-family homes in the Huntsville, AL area. This has been a great experience as I've learned so much about commercial deals/financing/nuances, 1031 exchanges, and holding rental properties in an LLC. We own rental property in Hawaii, Colorado, and Alabama, for a total of 25 units and looking to more than double this in the next 2 years. Looking to get into bigger deals and do some flips too.