A brand new journey from Kirkland, Washington

[James A.]

Hi Everyone!

My name is James Abuan (pronounced as "aw-bwon") and I'm from the great pacific northwest living in Kirkland, Washington. I currently work for one of the top cloud-technology companies in the world developing new markets and I wouldn't trade working for anyone else (at least for now). About 3 months ago I've decided to enter the business of real estate investing part-time just because I've been so tired of relying on one source of income. Basically, not enough to help prepare for the future. You just never know when corporate will ever pull its plug on you! Even about a month ago my company had gotten acquired it was scary for a moment to think that I wasn't going to have a job any longer. Since looking for a community group like BiggerPockets a few days ago to get plugged-in I figured it would be a great idea to join immediately cause you never know what you're going to get. As much as I'm not only doing this for myself but helping my mom and our families grow financially in the Philippines, but most importantly help those who are less fortunate in other countries! I don't have much investing experience, but if anyone can mentor me, partner or point me in the right direction in making my first deal that would be totally awesome! I can definitely learn something from you guys. I'm all ears at this point, and since I'm just focusing on getting the right education I'm making this a major priority in my life to learn and grow while working full-time. So far, listening to the podcasts and utilizing the resources from BiggerPockets has been great!

As I'm still working on getting educated with the different strategies, especially through BiggerPockets I'm also looking to flip my first deal along with the approaches to wholesale, flip, buy and hold long-term. I'd like to ensure someday when I do retire that I have more than enough to take care of my family and to travel around the world meeting new people!

Thank you to BiggerPockets and to the community! I look forward to building a long-term financial legacy!

Cheers,

James

[Rusty Thompson]

You stated that Job security was a concern of yours. Are you looking to get into REI to quit your day job, supplement you income or to create a healthy retirement. What assets do you have that will help you get there? What skills can you leverage? Do you have a wife/girl friend? Will she be on board? What sacrifices are you willing to make to get there? Do you have a history of follow through? If not what will you do to keep focused? These are are just a few of the big questions that you will have to answer for yourself to create a workable plan for yourself.

Once you have broken down your life and determined if you are in a position to be successful in REI. Then you can take those answers to determine what system of investing you want to pursue. What you choose will depend on what your local market looks like. For instance I see you are close to Seattle. From what I understand, buying and holding in your local market doesn't make a lot of sense up there. So if you want to buy and hold then it will have to be long distance. Maybe your not comfortable with that so you decide you would rather flip. Do you have the time and experience to do that? If not then maybe wholesaling is something you can do. Do you like talking with people & have negotiation skills. Maybe none of those appeal to you. So you could pursue Tax liens or note buying.

Once you have decided on a system, learn everything you can about it. So you will be prepared.

Then set some goals,. Like " I plan on buying enough cash flowing properties in my area in 5 years to replace my W-2 income so I can quit my job. To do that I will have to buy (x) houses every year. To purchase them I will buy them using ( conventional financing, private investors, hard money...) To do that I will have to...."

Your bushiness model will be a very personal self examination. Only you can decide on what is best for you, in you life at anytime. 

That was a lot longer than I expected and I feel I only touched the tip of the iceberg. I would recommend you read Bigger Pockets Ultimate Beginners Guide & Listen to all of the Podcasts, There is so much knowledge combined resources.