BiggerPockets

Hello everyone!

I am new to BiggerPockets so I thought I'd introduce myself!

I am from Palmdale, CA, and attended California State University, Chico where I received a degree in graphic design. Upon graduating, I moved to Southern Oregon where I have been gaining experience in graphic design, web design and marketing for the past 3 years.

About a month ago, my boyfriend drug me to a 1-hour Rich Dad event where they sold us on a $199 3-day seminar. We attended the seminar this past weekend and learned a ton! We are both sold on the idea of investing in real estate and are willing to do what it takes to be successful. While it was tempting to pay for Rich Dad's advanced education, we turned it down because while we are convinced that this is the road we want to take, we understand that it will NOT be easy and it is not a "qet rich quick" solution. Since we have made peace with that, we are ready to move forward!

Currently, we are trying to figure out which path we want to start down first. Wholesaling looked like the best option at first glance, but since my boyfriend has his real estate license, it looks like that is not going to be the path for us together while we are in Oregon, though it is still an option for me completely alone. Bird dogging could be okay, except we heard that a lot of new investors give up quick on this because they don't have anything invested. This leaves us with flipping. While I have a very little amount in my savings right now that I'm not willing to lose, I do have $15-$20k available in credit. Credit is not my first option, so we're researching ways to creatively finance. I have a full-time job that I commute to M-F, so this will be something I can commit my time to on evenings and weekends.

I joined BiggerPockets because I love to connect with like-minded individuals and I love being part of supportive communities!

While I don't have a lot of knowledge to contribute yet on investing or real estate, I do have an eye for design and making marketing material look pretty, professional and convincing. I also am experienced using WordPress and customizing themes. I know a lot of people are trying to cut costs where they can and do marketing on their own, so don't hesitate to ask if you need an opinion!

I look forward to being a contributing member of BiggerPockets!

Welcome to the BP community. Spend a little time here and I think you will find the information and help from members invaluable, as do I. Best of luck to you in your pusuit!

Hello @Alyssa Craft I am chuckling because you've mentioned most of the techniques we use but one - the one that provides us with financial freedom: BUY and HOLD. I've purchased 28 units in the past 7 years which generates $45,000 of CF annually. The first 18 were 100% financed, while the 10-unit I closed on yesterday required 2% cash ($5,000).

Why not BUY and HOLD?

@Michael Galloway: Any transaction that he's a principal to, might be a principal to or a party to needs to go through the broker, and they will take a commission cut out of it. The principal broker does NOT want the office attached to wholesaling behavior. Flipping is more of a traditional transaction so the broker is more okay with this. I, however, can still do wholesaling 100% completely on my own.

I do own a personal residence as of a few months ago, but it doesn't have any equity in it yet.

I haven't researched anything on SUB2s yet, so I'll brush up on that this week.

@Ben Leybovich: Why not buy and hold? I seem to have the idea stuck in my head that I need some money to actually put down on a property to hold it, and I'm not sure how to finance an investment property to buy and hold with zero cash down. This is what I want to do over time, however. Maybe my thinking is wrong, and there is a way to do this? Please enlighten me!!

@Alyssa Craft, welcome to BP and the world of investing. There are several California clubs I think you should check out. There's a womens group out of LA run by @Angel Bronsgeest. Bill Tan also runs a club in Pasadena that's smaller. Both of these individuals focus on creative financing. I think you're also adopting a very important network of local expertise. Feel free to call if you need help.

Welcome to BP Alyssa! I definitely understand your goal to build capital before buying properties to hold. I have spend the last 2 years or so flipping properties to build that capital and we just closed on our first rental property and are about to make an offer on a second. I am a huge fan of utilizing 2 strategies that feed each other to build capital and a portfolio at the same time.

Good luck!