Charleston, SC Newbie looking to fix and flip, buy and hold.

[David Wilson]

Hello to all BP-ers!

I've been loving perusing the website looking at all the informative content and forum posts!  I created a profile as soon as I realized how useful this community can be; however, I haven't made my official introduction yet.  Just haven't made time to do it yet. (excuses, excuses..)

So I guess lets jump in?

My name is David Wilson and I'm an (aspiring) Real Estate Investor. I've loved real estate since I was a little kid and the neighborhood behind my house was being built. My friends and I used to go "exploring" in the houses and apartments as they were going through the process of being built. I always had this draw to own real estate (but being younger than ten, that wasn't really plausible) and as the years have crept on (I know, I'm only 22, y'all are saying "10 wasn't that long ago for you.") I kept thinking about real estate, not really knowing what to do. I watched my dad go through a hellish nightmare of being a landlord and lose a ton of money and that scared me for a little while, but still I knew I wanted to do something with it. When I was in high school, we had a career day and "Real Estate Agent" was one of the "classes" I could go to, so I decided to and fell in love with the idea of being a real estate agent. I'm sure it didn't help that it was 2006 and the market was booming. ;) I decided then that when I graduated, I was gonna go get my real estate license and start earning bajillions of dollars right away. Well when I graduated in the year 2010, being an agent was probably the least desirable career to choose (I probably could have made more money being a trash collector in Detroit.) So yet again, I decided to push RE aside. When I was in the first year of college, I found out I had some medical issues *insert sob story here.* I moved home got treatments and life moved on as normal. I heard about a Fortune Builders event (I didn't know what it was at the time) and decided to go to the 2 hour seminar. I wasn't so stupid as to buy into their program, but it did get my curiosity flowing. Since then. I've been thinking about REI wanting so badly for "my chance" to come along, but I realized (recently) that I was being delusional and "my chance" is made by me, not just handed out. I currently work for my brother (also an aspiring REI) doing residential Electrical work in Charleston, SC where we drive all over and often have long discussions about REI and the futures we hope to have with it.

Now before y'all start yelling at your computer screen saying that "REI is a broad topic, do you really know what you want to do?!?" The short answer is yes.

My REI goals revolve around my family. Family is most important to me, and having just gotten married this May, I want to be able to provide a solid future for my family. Being around construction in my current career, I want to get into fix and flips. I love the thought of buying something that looks like crap, and making it beautiful. I eventually want to get into buy and holds, renting for passive income. My wife and I want to help those that are less fortunate, and we eventually want to start a farm providing those less fortunate with the opportunity to work and have the food and stability they need. I want REI to be the vehicle that takes us there.

Right now, I'm educating myself on the topics that I need to build a solid foundation, so I don't look like an idiot by biting off more than I can chew and failing.  I am also looking to network with those in the same field as me so I can learn what they're doing that works, and to be able to learn from their mistakes.  I know asking for a mentor isn't the right way to go about it, but I'm also looking to have a mentor that can actually show me how the process looks in real life.  I pick up information so much faster when its being shown to me in real life, not just reading about it on the internet.

If you made it all the way down to the end of this ridiculously long newbie post, then you might be as crazy and addicted to this site as I am. please take the time to comment and connect.  I'd love to hear from you and get feedback!

See you on the forums!

David Wilson