From VTSAX to Real Estate in Charleston

[Xander LaVille]

Hey everyone!

I’m Xander, living in the Charleston, SC area and in my late 20s. I’ve been interested in real estate investing for a while, but up until now, I’ve focused on the traditional FIRE strategy with retirement accounts and index funds. I’ve been drawn to real estate as a way to build wealth more actively and to accelerate my journey to financial freedom. I want to explore leverage, appreciation, amortization, cash flow, and tax advantages to build wealth faster.

While I can't currently use a primary residence as part of my investment strategy, I definitely see the potential and plan to incorporate that in the future. My focus right now is on local markets, long term buy and hold single family rentals with conventional financing. For my first property, I plan to keep things simple by focusing on light rehabs or turnkey properties. I know this might mean lower short term returns, especially after calculating all expenses (PITI, maintenance, CapEx, vacancy, etc.) but I'm okay with that because I see it as a chance to learn a lot and gain valuable experience.

I’m committed to purchasing my first property, however, I don’t want to rush into a bad deal. I’ll be diving into Bigger Pockets and other resources to learn as much as I can, and I’d love to connect with experienced investors who can help me avoid common mistakes and grow my knowledge of buy and hold investing.

Just wanted to introduce myself, if you have any advice or suggestions, I’d really appreciate it!

Thanks for reading!