New to Real Estate - Hello!

[Mike Santos]

Hello all!

My name is Mike and have been “lurking” around Bigger Pockets for about a month now. In listening to the podcasts, I figured it was time to stop lurking, and time to jump in and say hello and introduce myself. There is SO much information in these forums my head spins when I find myself going down a rabbit hole on a particular topic. I’ve been listening to the BP podcast a few hours a day and am finding relevant topics to newbies. I’ve been interested in Real Estate since college when I took a RE economics class and fell in love with the opportunity it presented. However, fast forward life, kids, etc., I’m now in my early forties and find myself now with money saved and ready to methodically venture into this. My main focus is cash flow and my goal is to replicate my salary within 10 years, which might be a bit aggressive. Funny enough, I work at a bank and am good with numbers and have always wanted to leverage my analytical strengths to better benefit me instead of my employer.

I live in San Jose, CA and know that I don't want my first RE experience to have a high tuition cost so buying in the immediate Bay Area is out, but have read some discussions around Stockton, Modesto, and Merced that sounds like it might be a viable option. I grew up outside of Sacramento so am aware of those cities, but that's where my familiarity ends. Many of those posts I read regarding those markets were around 2012-2014 timeframe so I'm not sure if those are still as viable to cash flow (although I'm sure there are always opportunity if one knows where to look). I have seen some experienced folks on here making themselves available to others' questions, but when I messaged them, I didn't hear back. Now that is more than likely because I got so overzealous I didn't notice the post was from 2013 and they may no longer be in this space. Is there a real estate club of sorts in San Jose? I did a search, but it didn't turn anything up. I started looking around using the MLS, but know choosing the right area (and ignoring even certain streets in an area) is paramount to making a good decision and need to start working with people familiar with that area that can work with.

While I do have money saved up, I am also wondering how feasible it is to get traditional lending and then going through a private lender to finance the rest or at least reduce the 20% down amount to not down the money into the house – oh, and so that it cash flows? Does it take a few traditional financing ones under your belt before this is even an option? Are there any discussion threads I should focus on that could help?

I have been nothing but determined to get into real estate the more I listen to the podcasts and the more I read the forums here but at times feel overwhelmed when looking around, and am concerned about buying in an area I know little about.

I look forward to continuing to read all of your insightful experiences and takeaways in the forums and hope one day I can build up enough experience to provide the same.  

Cheers,

Mike