Emerging Out of State Investor

[Brian Schunck]

Hello Bigger Pockets community,

My name is Brian. I have been educating myself over the last few years about protocols and processes that it takes to invest in real estate. I grew up in a small suburb in San Diego. My parents, who were immigrant baby boomers, stressed the importance of hard work and home ownership. That notion has planted a seed in me that attracts me to the real estate path in a way that feels innate. I do not think I was sent from above to be the next Messiah of the Fix and Flip or The King of the Slow BRRR. (Shot out @Dave Meyer) I would just like to build a portfolio that could have 2 million or so in equity 15 years from now and help my wife and I retire comfortably. That seems to be in the range of 3.5 - 7 properties depending on the market, but that is also just my "emerging investor" calculation so I hope to gain insight into our journey as we gain experience and get more savvy.

My wife and I are complete opposites. She wants the heater pumping and I'm always sweating. She'll be late to her own funeral, and I'll be an hour early to my own surprise birthday party. When it comes to real estate investing it is no different I am open to some risk and uncertainty, because I believe that's how we grow. She is more oriented toward security, predictability and saving. That's where she finds safety and comfortability for our future. I think a healthy mix of both of our mentalities can set us up nicely in the real estate business.

About a month ago my wife told me that she would love to have a vacation home somewhere by the water where we can build life long memories with our 3 children. As she was talking all I heard was "out of state investment property (we live in California) leaning short term rental in an emerging neighborhood where we can fall back on long term rental to give us multiple outs."

The first thing I did was reach out to some friends that connected me with a lender, we just got pre approved. I'm also going to reach out to a credit union and we are off to find our market and build our business.

Sorry for the long introduction, but I wanted to paint the picture so I can build community in this the infamous Bigger Pockets forum. Thank you everyone.

[Kerlous Tadres]

@Brian Schunck, I’d recommend buying a “vacation” property only if it works as a conservative long-term rental first, and treat any short-term rental income as extra. Pick one market, build a strong local team (agent + lender + property manager), and don’t rush the first deal.