First Time Investor

[Don Jackson]

Hey Team,

Long time lurker, first time posting, so I'll start with my "why(s)".

Earlier this year, my employer had a round of layoffs; thankfully, I made it through unscathed, but I realized how much I disliked letting a company have that much influence over my family's wellbeing, so I decided I needed to diversify my income. I have a small side hustle that generates a little money, but it's not nearly enough to support my family. I have been wanting to invest in real estate for a while, and a few months ago, I decided it was time to start. I also have two kids who will be going to college in about 8 years, I will be retiring in about 15 years, and I would like to have some extra cash flow to make both of those events a little more manageable.

The plan;

Right now, I am in my education period (reading books, watching YouTube, and listening to podcasts) with a goal of purchasing my first property later this year or early '26. I currently live outside of Denver, and the buy-in for this market is above the amount of capital I have available to get started, so I have decided that I will need to invest out of state. The key to this approach for me to be comfortable will be educating myself properly, but the obvious advantage is that it'll open up more options, and I do not plan on managing the rentals myself. I do not have a market identified (still doing my research), but the business plan is to have cash-flowing rentals purchased using the BRRRR method, so I can pull most of my cash out and get to the next property quicker than waiting for the cash flow to accumulate for my next down payment. I plan on identifying a market that I can have multiple rentals in, so I know it will be important to have a good investor-friendly agent, and of course, a good PM and contractor. I know the rest of this team will not matter if I can't find a lender that will work with me, so I think one of the next steps is to identify a lender.

I plan on posting more on each of these individual steps in the appropriate categories, but I just wanted to get this initial post out there to introduce myself and see if anyone has any advice on the broad strokes of my plan.

Thanks everyone!

Don