Just turned 30 and i’m financially free thanks to Bigger Pockets. Hello

[Matt Ruhl]

My name is Matt Ruhl I started my real estate journey in 2019 during one of the hardest times in my life — going through a bad divorce.

Luckily, I was able to keep my house and eventually sold it, making a decent profit. At 24 years old, I was young and honestly made a lot of dumb financial decisions, spending much of that money on things that didn’t matter. Girls Partying and trips.

At one point, I had moved into a friend’s house and was living in a tiny spare bedroom that barely fit my queen-size bed. I remember thinking to myself: If I don’t do something smart with the money I have left, it’s going to disappear, and I’ll be stuck working my city job picking up trash downtown for the rest of my life.

That’s when I got hooked on BiggerPockets.

Almost every day during my 50-minute drive to and from work, I listened, learned, and soaked up knowledge from so many great investors and guests on the podcast.

With only about $10,000 left from what remained of the money I hadn’t already blown, I bought my first rental property — a very old, ugly triplex in a small town near where I grew up.

My parents told me not to buy it. Some friends thought it was a bad idea too. But I did it anyway.

That decision changed my life forever.

Today, the same parents who told me not to buy that first property now ask me for financial advice.

I focused on small multifamily properties in smaller towns and cities outside of Columbus, Ohio. By doing that, I was able to buy properties far cheaper than Columbus prices while still achieving strong rents after renovations.

I recently closed on my first trailer park and made the decision to leave my W-2 job.

Today, I can honestly say I’m financially free — and a huge part of that journey started with BiggerPockets.

You never know how much one decision can change the direction of your life.

[Sam McCormack]

Quote from @Matt Ruhl:

My name is Matt Ruhl I started my real estate journey in 2019 during one of the hardest times in my life — going through a bad divorce.

Luckily, I was able to keep my house and eventually sold it, making a decent profit. At 24 years old, I was young and honestly made a lot of dumb financial decisions, spending much of that money on things that didn’t matter. Girls Partying and trips.

At one point, I had moved into a friend’s house and was living in a tiny spare bedroom that barely fit my queen-size bed. I remember thinking to myself: If I don’t do something smart with the money I have left, it’s going to disappear, and I’ll be stuck working my city job picking up trash downtown for the rest of my life.

That’s when I got hooked on BiggerPockets.

Almost every day during my 50-minute drive to and from work, I listened, learned, and soaked up knowledge from so many great investors and guests on the podcast.

With only about $10,000 left from what remained of the money I hadn’t already blown, I bought my first rental property — a very old, ugly triplex in a small town near where I grew up.

My parents told me not to buy it. Some friends thought it was a bad idea too. But I did it anyway.

That decision changed my life forever.

Today, the same parents who told me not to buy that first property now ask me for financial advice.

I focused on small multifamily properties in smaller towns and cities outside of Columbus, Ohio. By doing that, I was able to buy properties far cheaper than Columbus prices while still achieving strong rents after renovations.

I recently closed on my first trailer park and made the decision to leave my W-2 job.

Today, I can honestly say I’m financially free — and a huge part of that journey started with BiggerPockets.

You never know how much one decision can change the direction of your life.

 Heck yeah man, that's sick. this reminds me of the book of 1 Kings. Elijah was told by God to go to Zarephath, meaning to smelt or melt, and from there he faced king Ahab to confront him of his sin and defeat 850 prophets of false Gods. You gotta be put through the furnace/fire to get the best of yourself, love it!