New member Introduction

[David Ibsen]

Hey Team!!

I just wanted to say hi and thanks. I am new in the space and looking to make my first deal in an investment property before the end of the year. I have been gobbling up information through the podcasts and audio books for the last 4 weeks and I am ready to jump in! I've taken my first steps and started calling around to find a local lender. I made 3 calls, on the first I found an option for purchasing unimproved land, the second lender has 20 years experience in the area (plus she is a retired military spouse), and I felt like the third was exactly what I was looking for. 

I wanted to especially that David Greene and the Team for sharing all the great content! I feel like it has given me the lexicon to have the conversations with lenders and agents so I can start building a network. While talking to the mortgage broker he asked if I listen to Bigger Pockets and I instantly felt like I was talking to the right person.

I'm just really grateful and looking forward to getting started in my new chapter in life. 

[Alex Breshears]

Hi David! Welcome to the Bigger Pockets community! I will say any beginner should sit down and really think about what they want from investing.  There are some serious time commitments with some styles of investing, and there are a lot more options out there other than buy and hold and fix and flip. For example, I do private lending. I lend out my own capital for investors in my local market. It's not overly time intensive, I can do it from anywhere in the world (literally, my last loan went out while I was in Vienna Austria on vacation, I just had to call my bank and wire the funds).  I wanted not only to leave my job but I needed and wanted time freedom, plus geographical freedom. A few years down the road, I have vacation homes and a primary residence, and I just travel between them when I want to. The vacation homes are rented when I'm not there for some additional income, and I do private lending as my main business for cash flow for monthly expenses. This is exactly what I wanted, and I love it.  I did try long term rentals - hated it. I tried a fix and flip - I would rather get a root canal.  I did them before I really thought about what I ENJOY doing and what I really wanted out of life. I wanted maximum flexibility, and those methods did not meet that for me and my situation.  So I will say first and foremost sit down and write out what is important to you and WHY you want those things. After drilling down to that, then you can start narrowing your options for the style of investing you want!

[David Ibsen]

Alex,

Thanks for the reply, you make a lot of good points. How did you get started in lending? It seems to me like you would need to have a lot of liquid capital to be a private lender and I don’t think that is something I could jump strait into. I’d be interested to hear more of your personal story of how you got started.

-Dave

[Mike Klarman]

Dave, if you have any questions about the hard money lending process do not hesitate to reach out.  I can give you a heads up on what to expect.