New investor in the Pittsburgh area.
Hello everyone! First off let me say I am very happy to to be here and excited for the relationships that may form, and to be apart of this community. Being new to BiggerPockets I wanted to introduce myself and share my ideas and goals for my path in becoming a real estate investor. 5 Months ago I bought my first house as a fixer upper with the intent to flip, as I am a contractor and work in construction I do all of the work myself. Originally, as stated I intended to flip the house, but since I have decided to rent the property out after updating and modernizing it (FHA requires I live here for 2 years :(.) In the mean time I am looking at the possibilities of Owner Carry Contracts to get a Duplex in my investment portfolio. After 2 years I plan to house hack and obtain another duplex to renovate as well. My long term goal is to create a real estate portfolio consisting of a variety of 2, 3, and 4 door units, mobile home parks, and single family homes in order to move closer to achieving my goal of financial freedom. I have spent the last 9 months educating myself through podcasts, as well as reading 2 - 3 real estate investment books per week. Any advice will always be greatly appreciated by those whose footsteps have paved the way for rookies like myself! In advance, thank you all for being here for the newbies like myself!
Welcome to the Biggerpockets group. It sounds like you are well on your way towards achieving your goals. If I can be of any help along the way, feel free to reach out to me. I've lived here my whole life, know the market very well, and truly love this amazing city of ours...Gary
Quote from @Travis Headding:
Hello everyone! First off let me say I am very happy to to be here and excited for the relationships that may form, and to be apart of this community. Being new to BiggerPockets I wanted to introduce myself and share my ideas and goals for my path in becoming a real estate investor. 5 Months ago I bought my first house as a fixer upper with the intent to flip, as I am a contractor and work in construction I do all of the work myself. Originally, as stated I intended to flip the house, but since I have decided to rent the property out after updating and modernizing it (FHA requires I live here for 2 years :(.) In the mean time I am looking at the possibilities of Owner Carry Contracts to get a Duplex in my investment portfolio. After 2 years I plan to house hack and obtain another duplex to renovate as well. My long term goal is to create a real estate portfolio consisting of a variety of 2, 3, and 4 door units, mobile home parks, and single family homes in order to move closer to achieving my goal of financial freedom. I have spent the last 9 months educating myself through podcasts, as well as reading 2 - 3 real estate investment books per week. Any advice will always be greatly appreciated by those whose footsteps have paved the way for rookies like myself! In advance, thank you all for being here for the newbies like myself!
After growing from house hacking to over 150 units I will say that the most knowledge you will gain comes from doing. Keep doing deals, as a contractor work with investors, and participate in the actual doing of real estate. I know that being an agent and working with other people on their deals gave me so much more experience than if I had only bought my own because I was involved in so many projects that way. As a contractor you can do the same. It really is a contact sport.
At the beginning especially focus on one asset class. 1-4 unit buildings are probably the most straightforward. Continue doing that and sticking to it for a while. Eventually your self education will give you what you need to master that area, and then (and only then) look at new asset classes. Don't get shiny object syndrome. At the beginning everything is exciting, but if you focus on everything you focus on nothing.
Obviously continue to read and listen, but be mindful of what people are selling you. Most of the "education" out there is littered with "selling the sizzle, butnot the steak". Then they sell you a whole cow afterwards that you don't have the tools to butcher and turn into steak. But you never really do get that steak. I ramble, but maybe you get that haha.
Eventually the practical information from podcasts, books, etc, starts to repeat itself. Real Estate Investing really isn't that complicated (though RE education companies want it to seem that way so they can sell you more stuff), but it is hard work. Your persistence and ability to deal with BS will serve you better than anything you read in a book or hear on a podcast. It helps to be smart, but it's not a required ability for RE Investing haha. Just learn the basics from that stuff and when it starts to repeat itself move on to learning about small business. In the end that's what real estate investing is, small business. If you grow large enough you're managing people. If you don't do that you won't grow.
Hope that helps. If you want to talk 1 on 1 I'm happy to meet up at some point or have a quick chat on the phone. I'm in South Hills.
Welcome to Bigger Pockets!
This is a great place to learn and network.
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Best of Luck!
#2 BRRRR - Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat Contributor
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#2 BRRRR - Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat Contributor
- Lender
- Charlotte, NC
Welcome Travis, you're in the right place!
I would love to connect and discuss this further with you. I have seen a lot of fo success with multi-units in the area and am happy to help where I can/answer any questions!