Hi everyone :)

[Payvand Milani]

Hi all - I'm married with one child so far, in my mid-30s. I'm an outpatient internal medicine physician here in the Bay Area. For the next 3-5 years, single income household here (wife staying home with kid(s)). Very new to real estate investing. Have participated (currently still involved in them) in two real estate syndications. Very excited about real estate investing mostly because I finally can see, through hearing about the successes of many (through podcasts etc), that it may truly be possible reach my financial goals. I am looking for both cash flow and appreciation. Cash flow probably is the priority (?) since my goal is to be able to cut down my hours for quality of life purposes. However, due to very, very high cost of living in Silicon Valley, and difficulty buying a reasonably sized home, and given I will remain in Bay Area long term most likely (family all here), also need a property appreciation strategy to some extent, too. Really excited to learn more and to speak with those (most ideally who live near me with whom I could meet up in person, but definitely not a deal breaker) who are in a similar stage or perhaps just ahead of me, from whom I can learn and feel supported by as I venture into this new world. I often feel like I cannot relate to many successful real estate investors on these podcasts as many seem to live in much more affordable parts of the country and thus have lower cost of living/mortgages/etc which really helps accelerate their success, it seems. Trying to stay positive, though! :)