Newbie from Bay Area California

[Ather Rizvi]

I’m Ather Rizvi and I currently reside in Cupertino CA. I currently work as an IT professional in the latter years of my career. I’ve worked as a Real Estate agent many years ago both in Toronto Canada and for a short time in Sacramento California but have never invested for myself.

I’ve always had a keen interest in business and have had an entrepreneurial side of me but have never been very successful due to various reasons. As I see my retirement in the future I am looking to find a solid and fairly reliable way to build a nest egg in the years I have left. One thing I’ve always heard and read is that Real Estate has built the most millionaires out of any profession and investment method. Since I don’t work for Google, Apple or Facebook, I am hoping that Real Estate the tried and true method will get me where I hope to be.

I was hoping to get into flipping houses in the bay area, but after doing some reading here and other sites, it sounds like finding a below market property is next to impossible in the bay area. The one possible method I’ve heard is to add value to properties which I interpret as renovating, adding square footage. I would also be interested in doing a tear down and rebuild as many of the other investors have done at some point in the future funds permitting.

I came across this site by searching for information on how to renovate and flip houses in the bay area. I’m fairly handy with tools and have done some small renovation projects on my own home and hope to do some work if I can to reduce costs but know that most work will have to be done professionally. I would love to learn and hear what others have done and appreciate any advice and experiences that can be shared as guidance from the wealth of good people on this forum. Thanks in advance for any guidance you can offer!

Warmest Regards,

Ather Rizvi