Newbie investor moving to Fairbanks, Alaska! (Military)

[Matt Slykhuis]

Hey all. I'm a newbie looking to start investing in real estate in the Fairbanks, Alaska area some time early next year. I have very little experience in real estate but have been learning a lot over the past few weeks and took a class in college about 8 years ago. I have listened to the first 20 BP podcasts (amazing!), have read about 1/3 of J Scott's flipping book, and will continue to listen to the podcasts and read over the next few months (and beyond).

I am originally from Iowa, but have spent the last 7 years on Active Duty (Army) in Alabama, central Texas, El Paso, and of course Afghanistan a couple times. I am a Blackhawk helicopter pilot and have a degree in mechanical engineering from Iowa State.

Real estate will just be a side investment for me, but I am looking to focus primarily on a buy and hold rental strategy. I plan to post my business plan in another thread, but my goal will be to create positive cashflow on a passive basis that will give me the option to completely retire when I hit 20 years of military service. I will attempt to use my "frequent mover" status to my advantage and purchase investment properties at each duty station.

What I am looking for at BP:
1) I would love to have guidance along the way, but I understand that I’m a newbie without any credibility at this point.
2) A group of people to provide encouragement but also hold me accountable.
3) Continued education. I have already learned SO much in just a few weeks.

Thanks for checking out my thread!

[Noel Walton]

Welcome to BP, @Matt Slykhuis! My husband also flies Blackhawks (currently stationed in Hawaii) and we just discovered BP a couple weeks ago. We're listening to the podcasts every day to and from work and are currently on episode 23. You'll love this one, as James talks about his start in REI while still being AD and being stationed overseas. The diversity of the guests on the show is very inspiring with all the actionable information given (big thumbs up, Brandon and Josh!!) Each episode is motivating us even more, introducing us to new ideas and really has us itching to get started soon. However, with an upcoming move we've decided to focus on the education part for now and ordered several books off amazon (all recommended in the podcasts, and so far they're great!).

Sorry we can't give you much info as we're beginners ourselves, but just wanted to say hello!