New Member from Seattle eastside WA

[Steve K.]

Hi all.

I am in Bellevue / Redmond area of Washington state. Have been reading about real estate investment on and off for the past 7 years. Because I got a new job in 2010, I became an "accidental" land lord. Fortunately the two places are within a 2 hour drive distance.

Just spent a lot of time renovating my current living quarters. It is not easy. Hands on gave me some experience in renovation. Renovation also help me figuring out price and time required to do the job. Youtube will teach you quite a bit of the "how to".

Graduated from University of Washington with electrical engineering degree. What I do now days is project management, contractor negotiation, and construction safety / risk evaluation.

Real estate takes a lot of street smart, instead of "book smart". I am hoping to find a team or senior team leader so we can all learn from each other.

The devil is in the details. If I can shadow experienced people when they do their real estate magic, it would be great.

Primary Objective: Create a portfolio of rental properties to have basic financial security. Going for condos, SFH, and duplex / triplex.

Immediate plan of action for the next 3 months:

1. Read and learn using free resources on the internet.

2. Network with local people with similar interests. Real estate is very local. First stop is the local REIA organization.

3. Look at properties on MLS / Zip Realty, pick a few good candidates, and analyze numbers. I will post my analysis in the forums and invite discussions. Two heads are better than one. :-]