Good evening to everyone from a newbie in the Milwaukee WI area.

[Matt Lindstrom]

Hi everyone, I'm Matt Lindstrom from Waukesha WI, which is just west of Milwaukee for those that aren't familiar with the area.  I currently own a small car dealership and I am going to make the leap into realestate investing. 

A little about what I've been doing to educate myself...   I've been lurking on BP for a few months listening to podcasts, reading the forums and blogs, and really learning a ton from the enormous amout of knowledge that is here.  I have read a few real estate books this year, Rich Dad Poor Dad was the first and it really got me thinking about where I want to be in life.  I followed that with Rich Dad's Cashflow Quadrant, Loopholes of Real Estate by Garrett Sutton, The ABC's of Real Estate Investing by Ken McElroy, The Millionaire Real Estate Investor by Gary Keller, and now I am onto The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber.  

In July I attended a 3day Rich Dad real estate seminar which was definately worth the time and money. It was partially a "pitchfest", trying to get you to spend thousands on their further training (which I did not do). Overall it was an eye-opening experience to what is possible in many areas of real estate investing. Yesterday I joined my local Milwaukee REIA and attented my first meeting, I can see this being a great asset. I am curious if anyone has done the Milwaukee REIA coaching program, if you have I would love to hear your thoughts and experience with it.

Well, I think I have been long-winded enough.  I just wanted to say hi and I look forward to learning and contributing as much as I can here on BP and in the RE investing world.

[Elizabeth Colegrove]

Welcome to Biggerpockets!

This is an amazing site. You will really enjoy all the extra information. I have not done a coaching program because bigger pockets is free unless you go pro.

Our model is buy and hold real estate through pure rentals, personals turned rentals all being class A properties so smaller margin but lower expenses. We got started through personal properties. We bought our first property using a VA loan and than gutted it. We rented it out when we left. Getting started in personal properties allowed us to get started with very little down.

Check out the Blogs, Podcasts and forums. Biggerpockets community is truly awesome through their diversity (buy and hold, wholesalers, bird dogs, commerce, developers, flippers, agents, etc). Another unique resource is peoples personal blogs/websites that can be found in the signature. Within the above "groups" everyone has create their own niches. Many of us have create a website/blog giving more information about our model, etc. I talk about self managing from a distance with steps, turning a transient lifestyle into an asset and personals turned rentals.

Look forward to seeing you around Biggerpockets!