BiggerPockets

Hi!

I am Benjamin Lahoy. I am currently a programmer for a company. I am not getting any younger and I see that I am not at that level where I should be in providing for my family and their future. This led me to taking another look at real estate investing. I would like to eventually retire from programming and concentrate on this and other things.

I am still reading books and stuff. I just started 2 weeks ago. I set my goal to have 6 cash flow properties this year without a clue on how to do this. It is funny but that is my motivation. Every time I get too stressed at work, the more I get motivated to achieve that goal. So I have not quit yet from this goal nor from my day job.

I was looking for ways to find buyers and lenders for when I see good deals I could present them to. So when I googled it led me to this website.

I guess from my first week of studying REI, I realized I needed a good network of lenders, buyers, sellers, tax accountants, appraisers, contractors, property management services and the likes but I did not know where to go to.

Well, that is all. Have a nice day!

Karen, I think buy and hold will be after I buy and sell homes. I do see good deals here in California single family homes and duplexes. I have not seen any apartment buildings yet.
Being in a very step by step career I guess makes me ask myself whether to get a financial company first before finding a deal or vice versa.

Thanks Josh.

Having been in this business along time, what I tell all newcomers, whether investors, or real estate agents, is get to KNOW your local market. Watch what is listed, what sells, for what price. Compare the amenties, each has as much as possible. Go out to Open Houses. Ask questions. The more knowledge you have of your market, the more comfortable you will be.

Go talk to a lender and find out how you stack up as far as getting financed, that way you will know what price range you're qualified for, how much you'll need down etc. For general information, just snoop around on BP, there's plenty of lenders. @Bill Gulley comes from banking. @Ann Bellamy is a lender, though on the east coast, but both have a wealth of information.

By putting the @ sign before names, a list comes up, you click the name, and it inserts it into post, as well as notifies person they were mentioned in a post. Hopefully Ann and Bill will see the mention and weigh in, they're both very good on that!

@Benjamin Lahoy - welcome to BP. Lots of great info here.

One of your bigger challenges is going to be finding your way in real estate, since it's such a large topic, and ultimately being able to focus on something that really interests you to the point of taking steps towards it and ultimately positive action.

There are many real estate investment clubs in the LA/SoCal area that you hear speakers discuss their experiences investing as well as meet fellow investors who'll offer feedback. My caveat is that there are also folks pitching programs that may not be a good educational investment, so I recommend you leave your credit cards at home.

@Benjamin Lahoy, Welcome from another California Investor.