New -Northern VA- Member

[Curtis N.]

Hello BP!

I've been lurking around for a month or so as I've been reading up more and more on REI. My name is Curt, I am 26 years old, and I currently live in Northern Virginia - Centreville specifically. My main profession is running my own IT Consulting company working mostly with government contractors but also some businesses in the area. I have been married (see profile pic) for going on 4 years and we have our first baby (girl) coming in May!

I have always been interested in real estate but never seriously started looking into it until the recent market crash. I began reading up on things and we ended up buying a townhouse in Centreville in the summer of 2010. The plan is for my wife to stay home with our child(ren) so I am looking to real estate to provide some modest income to help offset the missing salary but mainly to provide financial security into the future. Therefore, I believe the best investment strategy for us is to buy-and-hold and become landlords.

We currently have an FHA mortgage on our townhouse with about 88% LTV. We have around $150k cash saved up to invest. Ideally we would like to do this in the local area so we can manage the properties ourselves instead of having to pay management fees, but as everyone in the DC Metro knows, the prices are very high. Over the next several months as I start posting on BP and meeting local investors, I hope to find a property with some equity in a good rental market and make it mine. I can't wait to get the ball rolling.

Just wanted to stop in and say hi! Feel free to contact me if you're in the local area and would like to mind meld! I'm interested in seeing how other local investors are finding undervalued buy-and-hold properties in the area.

Thanks!

Curt