New investor from Minneapolis, MN

[Kayla Joachim]

I have been excited about real estate for over two years now, reading several books and blog posts on the topic on and off, but for some reason haven't really browsed the forums that often, nor have I made any posts before. However, now is a good time to start! I feel like I have a decent foundation of the overarching ideas, but there is a lot still to learn for sure.

I've lived with my current roommate, Molly, for a little over a year now and I've gotten her excited on the idea of investing in real estate as well. We both graduated college in spring 2013 and work as accountants. I am in tax working on a specialization in estate, trust, and gift tax and she is in audit and is just waiting for the official CPA papers to come in the mail-woot!. Combined, our incomes are over 100k, so we definitely have an advantage there as we look to invest.

The plan is that we will form a partnership (of some legal form) so that we can take advantage of both our incomes to scale our business faster, easier, and with potentially less stress and worry (at least financially). I know people warn about going into business with a friend, but I feel like it will work with Molly and I. We have the same thoughts and ideas 95% of the time, and the other 5% we have always been able to easily come to an agreement. We are also currently working on what our exit strategy will look like, just in case.

Beyond work and real estate, we are also avid social dancers-blues and swing-and our current living situation allows us to host blues parties about once a month, which we love doing. We also travel several times a year to blues dances and exchanges around the country.

Our Real Estate Goals
I want to invest in multi family units for the passive cash flow. We are looking to start with FHA financing and get our feet wet with the whole landlording business for a year or two. Then, while it is daunting to think about it, I am not opposed to purchasing multiple properties in a relatively short period of time. I am not afraid of the hard work, and if this is paying the bills-which it will because I have BP to help me!-I am not afraid of quitting my job to work full time on it, though Molly hates her job much more than I do so she would be more likely to quit before me. Eventually yes, I would love to live off the income from my properties, but in the meantime, we will channel the money back into the business so that it can grow faster.

Recently, we have met with a mortgage lender and a real estate broker and we have started looking at a few properties to understand what is available to us. Look for my post titled 'First Analysis-4plex in Minneapolis' in the deal analysis section.