Looking to learn and network in Beaver County

[Alec Jacobs]

Hello Everyone!

I have been posting here and there on the forums for a while now but I have recently hit a wall in my real estate journey and I think my best course of action would be to start to network with more people in my market to overcome some of the hurdles I am facing that they have faced at some point. (Sorry in advance for the long post).

Here is a little bit about me: My name is Alec Jacobs and I am a newbie real estate investor looking to build my portfolio in Beaver County. I am 21 years old and I am currently working as an electrician and I am looking to invest long term through househacking. 

My current situation: I have yet to secure my first property and I am on the hunt for anything that could fit my buy box and I am eager to get in the game (I have been pre-approved for 175k). My target markets are Monaca and Beaver and I would ideally want a multifamily property. I am open to other markets in Beaver County but I am not as knowledgeable on them, and since multifamily are hard to come by in my target markets I am ok with being creative with my strategy (rent by the room, live in the basement and rent out the rest, etc.). I am not afraid of doing some rehab myself (I do work in the trades) especially since you can force appreciation that way, but I am not familiar with rehab costs and ARV or anything. I'm also okay with not cash flowing at the start since househacking seems like a way to just reduce living expenses rather than cash flow but my logic could be flawed there.

My problem lies in the way I am going about learning my markets and all the intricacies of RE investing. I feel as though I am "reinventing the wheel" when it comes to figuring out things when instead I could be in contact with people who have gone through all that I have and could give me insight on my situation. 

If anyone is willing to help me I am certainly willing to help you with whatever be it handy work or some trivial task that you could would rather not do. I am eager to learn, connect, and to bring value to whoever "mentors" me, so to speak, because I am realizing how important networking is. 

Any information is welcome but I would like to start connecting locally because I am seeing the power in that and I am willing to return the favor however I can. I can also elaborate on any of the word-vomit I threw out if it would clear up anything.

Thank you all so much!