Virginia Beach, VA · Member since 2016 · 14 posts · 6 votes
Good Morning Fellow Investors,
Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Warren Golston. I am a 28 year old service member in the Navy. I am new not only on the boards but to this transition to what I consider a stepping stone into a new future for myself. I want to create a stable financial future for myself while finishing my service time. I don't know what came over me, but one day I woke up saying I want to be home free and financially stable by the time I retire/get out. I never considered real estate an option out of fear. I've been doing research about this for about a month now and now with a change of thought, I believe buying rental properties and having my money work for me is the way to go.
My friends and family caution me that what I'm about to do will ruin my life but I don't want fear of the unknown destroy a potential future avenue ahead for me. I know there are successful people out there and I want to one day join as one of them and prove my friends and family wrong that this is something that WORKS not something to fear. Sorry for the wall of text.
Real Estate Agent · Hampton Roads, VA · Member since 2016 · 87 posts · 46 votes
10y
Hey Warren welcome to BP! I'm a Realtor/investor out of Hampton Roads.
The same kind of thing happened to me when I first started. Poor people with poor mindsets cautioned me but I did it anyway and never looked back. I've learned that you need to take risks in life to get to where you want to be.
I no longer work for someone else and the only one that decides how much I get paid and how much I will retire with is ME. I no longer struggle getting out of bed going to work at a prison that sucks the energy and life out of you. I take CALCULATED risks every day and the rewards are something you never thought possible.
Not many businesses you can make your entire salary in one deal.
My advice to you is to
1) do a lot of research to narrow down what you want to focus on.
2) Find someone who is succeeding at doing what you want to do and learn from them. (Get a mentor, this had a hugeee impact on the growth of my business)
3) NETWORK the more people who know you and what you do the more money you make. We have a lot of different investor meetings over here. The popular ones are PREIA and TRIG.
4) Have fun and don't give up! If you work at it hard enough and get around people who know what their doing it will be very hard to fail!
I wish you the best of luck on your real estate journey and if you need any advice or help with anything let me know. If I can't answer your question I have surrounded myself with a team that can. Have a good one!
Real Estate Agent · Hampton Roads, VA · Member since 2016 · 87 posts · 46 votes
10y
Hey Warren welcome to BP! I'm a Realtor/investor out of Hampton Roads.
The same kind of thing happened to me when I first started. Poor people with poor mindsets cautioned me but I did it anyway and never looked back. I've learned that you need to take risks in life to get to where you want to be.
I no longer work for someone else and the only one that decides how much I get paid and how much I will retire with is ME. I no longer struggle getting out of bed going to work at a prison that sucks the energy and life out of you. I take CALCULATED risks every day and the rewards are something you never thought possible.
Not many businesses you can make your entire salary in one deal.
My advice to you is to
1) do a lot of research to narrow down what you want to focus on.
2) Find someone who is succeeding at doing what you want to do and learn from them. (Get a mentor, this had a hugeee impact on the growth of my business)
3) NETWORK the more people who know you and what you do the more money you make. We have a lot of different investor meetings over here. The popular ones are PREIA and TRIG.
4) Have fun and don't give up! If you work at it hard enough and get around people who know what their doing it will be very hard to fail!
I wish you the best of luck on your real estate journey and if you need any advice or help with anything let me know. If I can't answer your question I have surrounded myself with a team that can. Have a good one!
Toano, VA · Member since 2016 · 19 posts · 3 votes
10y
Welcome Warren! TRIG and PREIA are great places in the Hampton roads area to start! Good luck and maybe we will run into each other if you decide to attend one of the meetings.
Investor · Virginia beach, VA · Member since 2016 · 45 posts · 6 votes
10y
Welcome to BP Warren,
All of us here on BP can relate to what you heard from your friends and family, fear of the unknown. There will always be negativity around us, and if we let fear win over rational thinking we would never have successful companies like Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, etc.
I am a newbie here on BP also but I just purchased my first and 2nd properties last July, and I can say to you and anybody, that I wished I had started 3-5 years ago. I would have been farther ahead in my retirement plan. As anyone would tell you, learn as much as you can and try to surround yourself with people who share the same goals and dreams. I always remember a line from one of the many investing books that I read before; " If you want to know where you will be( financially) in 20-30 years, look at the people around you."
Take advantage of the wealth of knowledge that this community has to offer and you will find real estate investing is not hard to learn at all. Good luck and don't be afraid to ask for help.
Virginia Beach, VA · Member since 2016 · 14 posts · 6 votes
10y
Thank you all for the warm welcome. I will attempt to attend one of the meetings here in the hampton road area but with my schedule on ship it may be difficult. Perhaps I will run into someone who can shed some light on what I should do. Again thank you