Newcomer To Real Estate Investing - Intro Round 2

[Wes Talbot]

Hello! My name is Wes Talbot, I work as a cybersecurity engineer in the DC metro area. I did post here as a newbie once before in late 2019 as I was separating from the Navy (Intelligence Analyst) and starting a defense contracting position; But once COVID hit, I lost the focus I had and life took over and I focused more on growing my W2 income. I'm finally trying to get into it again and finally ready to pull the trigger and get the ball rolling. I started watching/listening to BiggerPockets a few years ago which stirred my initial interest and want to finally jump into the community to learn and grow and become a real estate investor.

I currently don't have any related experience in real estate outside of some light contracting work I did as a carpenter's apprentice and some demolition work a decade ago. I am going to restart attending local real estate investment group meetups to build out my network. I do understand where I live is a hot and expensive market, with few multi-family opportunities. I do understand if you drive a few hours out or go on the Maryland side, prices are a lot more affordable. I also have some opportunities up in Connecticut, where I'm from. I do have an interest in multi-family and commercial real estate and do have a decent chunk to get started. 

My first short-term goal is to acquire my first multifamily property this year and learn more about different markets, including out-of-state investing opportunities.  A long-term goal is to get into commercial multifamily or other commercial real estate sectors.  

I look forward to growing, learning, and potentially even contributing, to the BiggerPockets community. Feel free to reach out if you'd like to talk about real estate, share some tips, or even talk about any of the latest IT/Cyber/Tech trends.

[Wes Talbot]

Quote from @Corby Goade:

Thank you for your service.

Do you qualify for a VA loan? You might be missing the most obvious option here. House hacking a MFH with a VA loan is the holy grail of first deals. Don't look past the obvious.

You can have a cash flowing rental on day one with $0 out of pocket. That's an infinite return on your investment. 

Best of luck!

Thanks, Corby. I used a VA loan for the townhouse my wife and I currently live in. We are potentially looking at moving further west of DC and will be renting it out and using another VA loan for the next. Would certainly take some convincing for my wife to want to house hack - but I've been laying the foundation for that, so we will see. But, you are absolutely right.