Looking for an investor community around Silver Spring, Maryland!

[Olavi Takala]

Hello everyone! Let's jump right in, shall we? 

The important parts of this post are in bold if you're in a hurry!

I am new to Bigger Pockets but have been hungrily consuming all information I can about reaching FI and becoming a real estate investor for the past almost 2 years. I'm finally at the stage where I see real estate as the avenue I wish to use to build my wealth and build a future for myself and my family. For the record, I am currently single so I have a window of time over the next several years to dedicate myself to building this foundation. I am now 29 and my eyes were opened to FI when quarantine first hit in 2020, when I realized that I would be broke in a matter of months while there was no income coming in. The stimulus checks we received in Montgomery County saved my sorry self but I resolved to never, EVER let myself flirt with disaster like that again. It was a horrible feeling. I don't want my potential future children to EVER see me struggle like that. So I've taken steps to build up a savings cushion, repair my credit score, and begin investing in index funds. I will begin using tax-advantaged accounts early next year. Once I have reached a certain critical mass of knowledge, I will purchase a BP Pro membership and begin analyzing deals en masse using the incredibly helpful calculators, as opposed to in the purely academic way I've been doing on my own thus far. 

After a lot of research and deliberation, I have come to the conclusion that my strategy is going to be to begin with a house-hack on a multi-unit within my price range and within an hour of Silver Spring, MD, so likely a single-family home with a "mother in law suite" or extra square footage which I can turn into a small unit to live in. Ideally, I will live in the suite and rent the rest of the house out to (a) tenant(s). This comports with my college experience, when I slept in a curtained-off den/dining room (complete with chandelier), paying only $250/mo for utilities, internet, and my meager portion of the rent. 

That being said, I know almost nothing about the regulations regarding rent/tenants in my area despite living here my entire life sans my four years at a state college. And I keep hitting knowledge-barriers which are difficult to scale on my own. So here's my question for you all: are there any investors/investor communities located in the Washington DC Metropolitan Area I can link up with to meet people who are way smarter and more established than myself? I have begun and will continue to reach out to realtors in the markets surrounding Silver Spring, MD but finding a local community of people who are already farther along on this journey will certainly help me to find my way. I plan to become a real estate agent myself eventually but need to ensure my income supports the fees associated with being a brand-new agent before I take the plunge on that. I am actively taking steps in the "increase income" direction.  

I was humbled by my experience in early 2020 so I have no qualms about hitting the books (which I've been doing avidly) and listening to podcasts (I average about five episodes a week on the BP Money podcast right now). I want to become more active in seeking out information though, and having the opportunity to listen to and ask questions of people in the RE Investing space seems like the next logical step to me. 

If anyone has any pointers, please shout them out! Quick note: I regularly check the events page, but nothing consistent seems to be popping up in my area so I thought a forum post might be the best route forward. I am so thankful to have found the FI and BP communities; your insights on the forums and the resources available on this site have been invaluable in helping me change my mindset from thinking money is out of reach to realizing that not only is FI possible, but necessary. 

Love y'all! Thanks in advance for any help you can provide. 

Olavi Takala
Newbie