New Investors! Greater Chicago & Milwaukee area

[Josh Smith]

Hello! 

My name is Josh and my partner, Emily Smith, and I have recently started our journey in real estate investing! We are 22 and 21 respectively, and both graduated college a few months back. Currently, I am working in sales and Emily is a Residential Interior Designer in Chicago. Yet, we both want to start building a portfolio to gain financial freedom from a typical job and give us the chance to travel the world more. 

So far we haven't purchased any investments, but, we are mostly looking into buy and hold rental properties, focusing on multifamily. We are interested in house hacking here in Chicago to offset living expenses while also obtaining some units up in the Milwaukee area (a market more affordable for us right now). 

So far loving all the information on BiggerPockets and feel free to reach out with any advice! Always looking to learn more and connect with new people!

[Chris Winslow]

Hi @Josh Smith, welcome to BP! Very cool that you are excited about REI. Lots of awesome info on BP and in addition to that you can meet some great investors, real estate agents, lenders, etc. I think the most helpful thing when starting out is networking with some of these people that you find and starting to build out your team and then also analyzing deals so you know what a deal looks like one when you see one. Cheers!