Hi there everyone! Excited to be here in the Bigger Pockets forums. Been reading the site for a month or so and decided to get more involved. Don't have anyone in my family or friend group involved in real estate investing, so I'm excited to learn and network here.

About Me

I currently live in Old Hickory, which is a suburb of Nashville, TN. Lived here all my life, aside from four years at The College of Wooster (that's Wooster, OH, not Worcester, MA) and a few months living in Medellín, Colombia. I graduated college in May 2017 with a B.A. in English, and since then I've been traveling the country and world while making a living as a freelance writer and editor. 

While the travel has been loads of fun, I'm looking to establish more of a permanent base, as well as somewhere with more affordable rents than Nashville. Because of this, I'm planning to move to Des Moines, IA, sometime early next year. One of my clients is opening an office there, and it looks like a good chance to grow with his company while also dramatically reducing my living expenses (and getting to ride my bike a lot more).

My Real Estate Interests, Experience, and Goals

I don't have any experience investing in real estate. I have, however, dealt with plenty of landlords and Airbnb hosts in my travels, all of which has shown me the money to be made in being on the owner's side. I also have the advantage of a very flexible schedule (as long as I turn my articles in on time, my clients don't care where or when I do them) and overall low expenses (since I work at home and don't have to commute). While variable, my income is solid, and I'd like to put that some of that money to work in real estate investments.

What I've realized through my research, however, is that it's going to be difficult to secure conventional financing as a self-employed person. I'd love to get started with a strategy such as house hacking a duplex, but it looks like I'm going to need to show at least 2 years of consistent business income (with extensive documentation) before a lender is even going to give me the time of day. Optimistically, that means I'm looking at sometime in 2020 before I can get a loan. Mind you, I haven't actually talked to any loan officers, so I suppose it could be worth a shot just to see.

Still, I'm looking for other ways to get hands-on experience with real estate in the meantime. The most promising avenue seems to be applying my writing, research, and marketing skills to the real estate business. Still trying to figure out exactly how to do this, but currently thinking something like real estate copywriting.

Hope that wasn't too long of an introduction, and I'm excited to connect with y'all in the rest of the forums!