Newbie Investor from Hercules, California

[Alan Malicse]

Hello - I just wanted to introduce myself. My name is Alan Malicse. I stumbled upon the Bigger Pockets site while doing research on other Commercial Real Estate and Investing forums.

I live in Hercules, CA and have been in the Bay Area since 1975. I just turned 41 and my background and career for the past 17years was in Desktop and Systems administration. I was recently laid off in Aug from Lucasfilm which is what prompted me to assess my current life and pursue a career I can be passionate about!

I've always been interested in the field of Commercial RE but didn't have the liberty to focus all of my time in building a portfolio for my future. I've taken some early steps since being laid off. I completed my Real Estate Lic classes in Oct and just scheduled my State Lic exam in Jan. My plan after getting my license is to work with my cousin who has been a broker in commercial lending for the past 10years.

I'm taking this step in order to educate myself more on the backend of commercial deals and with that knowledge, my goal is to purchase my first commercial property in 2014. I have listened to a few podcasts here on BP and recently which I had purchased back in 2006 (yes I know) the J Scott Scheel DVD programs.

At first I had my property type focused on retail but because I am starting off small and very little money in the bank - I've decided to switch my focus to small Apartments 5-6 units just to build my experience. The extent of real world knowledge in real estate has been limited to just buying my personal home which I've lived in for the past 10 years.

Needless to say this new venture in life is scary as hell! But I know inside this is a field I've wanted to get into for a long time and something I know I can do for the rest of my life. I'm hoping I can network with all sorts in the business and please all and any advice is welcome!

Thanks for your time and maybe we'll work together in the future!

Alan Malicse