Newbie from Newton Massachusetts!

[Jeffrey Bradbury]

Hey Guys and Girls!

I’m kind of new to real estate investing and attempting to learn as much as I can before making another purchase. I became a landlord when the housing bubble burst, and it forced me to take a hard look at real estate, but I’m glad it did because I think it looks like a great way to build wealth.

By day I’m a Network Administrator, but after hours I’m attempting to be a real estate investor! I’m getting ready to purchase my second property, and looking to get into multi-family. (Buy and Hold) I’ve been finding lots of great info on the site, but I’m also trying to find someone from my area who would be willing to show me the ropes. I’ll bring the coffee! (Beer, Steak, Etc…)

My second purchase will be a little out of the norm from what I've seen people talking about on the forums. I'll be using a VA backed loan, so I can't pick up a handyman special at this point – I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing at this point because I see so many properties that look like they could work with a little sweat equity put into them.

Anyway, I’m going to stop typing before my introduction turns into a book.

[Shaun Reilly]

Hi Jeffrey, welcome to BP.

This is a great place to learn. Make sure to listen to all the BP podcasts, read the articles on the main blog and be active in these forums to learn a ton very quickly about any topic in real estate you want to know more about.

This is also a great place to meet people that can be assets to your business. Lots of great connections all over but we also have a very strong and active contingent here in MA on here so make sure to find them (Set up some keyword alerts to find out about local topics) and get connected.

Besides doing that on here make sure to get out to some of the many local investor events we have. Around you there is the Black Diamond meeting in Waltham (2nd location in Worcester which might be good to hit as well if you are looking to invest out there). The Boston AREIA in Medford is probably the next closest. Mike has a couple meetings on the North Shore and there are a few others up that way, I attend the NEREIA in Chelmsford (meeting is tomorrow if you are inspired to go to one ASAP). There is also a quarterly meetup in Woburn that is next Wed that is good too. Lots of stuff south of Boston as well.

So where is your job? If you are working near Newton commuting from Worcester, Southbridge, Oxford etc. might be a big change! It will be hard to find anything that is close to giving the numbers you want any place close to you now, but just keep that in mind as multi hour commutes can get old fast.