David C. Mechanicsburg, PA

[David C.]

I've been on here a couple weeks. I'm not a Real Estate investor yet.

My primary motivations are: to diversify out of 100% financial instruments, to take advantage of depreciation expense on my taxes with rates due to increase, and to build wealth.

I am willing to suffer lower returns to eliminate hassles.
I am very suspicious of gurus and get-rich-quick schemes.
I'm trying to find someone I can trust to help me find properties and someone to be my Property Manager. It does not have to be the same person.
I'd prefer to stay local to Central PA - I realize that being passive would allow long-distance investing and that would allow for greater diversification - but I may want to take over management of the properties myself at some future time, so I want them to be local.
I don't have a strong network where I live - I did not grow up here, and I'm self employed as a computer programmer - so I have little interaction with the industry.

Thanks for all the excellent info that is posted here.