Hi Everyone,

My name is Brian, and I’m starting my real estate investing path now. Just as a little background, thus far almost all of my investing has been done in stock markets through retirement accounts. And while I plan to continue that, I’d like to start adding alternative investments to my portfolio, with an emphasis on current income. I love my job, and have no plans to stop working. But I’d like to build a “passive” income stream that I can grow over time to supplement my earnings and provide a safety net of sorts. This has led me to Bigger Pockets!

I think rental homes are my best option to build this income stream right now. I'm open to smaller multi-unit homes (2, 3 and 4 units), but at least starting out, would prefer single family homes. At this point, I only want to invest in Georgia, and preferably in Atlanta and the surrounding areas. I love the scalability of the BRRR strategy and would love to get started here. But as someone with no experience, little time (working full time and have a family, etc.), and no network of contractors, agents, lenders, etc, it's a little overwhelming to think about. So I'm also open to a straight-up buy and hold rental acquisition.

I’ve started reading a lot of the forum and blog posts, and the amount of information here is incredible. I plan to continue reading to learn as much as possible. I think the next step is to start going to some local meetups (looks like there is one my area next week) to build a network. Aside from needing ways to source deals, finance deals, handle any rehab on the deals, and manage my properties, I’ve got everything covered – ha!

I’ll be around the forums and would love to hear from anyone, but especially other people in Atlanta. There are so many submarkets here, I’m really anxious to hear from people that have had success here in town.

Looking forward to getting to know the community here!

Welcome @Brian G. I will be missing the BP meet up that you are most likely attending next week  here in Atlanta, but I look forward to meeting you in person the following month. Good luck and feel free to reach out.

Welcome to Bigget Pockets Brian!!

Carmalinda Collins,  Atlanta

Welcome to BP! I’m work mainly out of Athens but I do come across deals and people in the Atlanta area from time to time since I did grow up in Gwinnett!

@Brian G. Welcome!  I started investing in real estate for the same reasons you mentioned.  I was looking to diversify my investments and reduce (but not eliminate) my exposure to stocks.  I currently operate a handful of single family rentals in the City of Atlanta.  I think I have made good investments, but I will say it has not been "passive" at all.  Happy to talk with you if it would be helpful.

Hey @Brian G.

Welcome to BP! Atlanta has a lot of prime buy and hold markets depending upon what your goals are.  A lot of information and helpful resources on this site!

Welcome to BP Brian, best of luck to you.

Welcome to Bigger Pockets Brian.

@Ruben Kanya - Thanks Ruben.  Yes, I plan on going to the Ravinia on Tuesday.  Hopefully I'll catch up with you at the next one.

@Sean Hayes - Thanks Sean.  I went to UGA and still get up there a few times a year.  Love it up there!

@Dan Mahoney - Thanks for the response Dan.  I do understand that any property I buy won't be truly passive.  Although if I'm being honest, I don't fully know how much of a time commitment each property would be.  Do you go to the monthly BP meetups?  Maybe we can catch up there on Tuesday?

@Micah Redden - Thanks Micah.  From what I've read so far, it seems like you're right.  As someone who is just beginning, there are almost too many options/sub-markets here.  Just the way my personality works, but before buying anything, I'd really like to take some time to understand the different sub-markets here and then identify a pretty specific criteria for what I'm looking for.  I think if I don't do that, I'll just constantly spin my wheels looking at random places all over the city.

@Jorge Flores , @Jonathan Davis , @Carmalinda Collins - Thanks for the welcome guys!

Hi @Brian G. !  I am a newbie as well:) Live in the Cambridge / Boston area and are just getting started.  Looking forward to learning along with you.   

@Donielle Buie - Thanks for the message Donielle!  Boston's a great place.  Here's to this being the start of great things for both of us!

@Brian G. , welcome to the BP family. Let me know if I can be of assistance. 

@Brian G. Welcome Brian. This site has tons of information and helpful people. Consider joining one of the REIA groups. Good luck and let me know if I can help.

Welcome @Brian G. it would be awesome to keep your job & create a passive income stream!  Good luck!