Mmmm...I love the smell of Newbie in the morning!

[Mark J.]

Greetings! Well, my highest aspiration for joining this site is that one or more of you kind and generous people will prevent me from doing something absolutely idiotic and extremely costly. 

Overall, I would definitely consider myself the George Costanza of investing-- whatever I do, you should do the opposite. At least that was my experience in the stock market. However, about four years ago, I converted my 1,000 sqf basement into a beautiful, modern 2/1 rental. I lived in a large city, within miles of the city center, in a high-demand area. The monthly rental income covered my mortgage, allowing me to squirrel away some $$. And that's how I became a real estate convert (and a stock market refugee who now only invests in professionally managed, low-fee index funds).

I've recently moved to Tampa, FL and have been researching and watching the real estate market closely. If you looked at my web browser history, it pretty much looks like this:

1) Hillsborough County Foreclosure Sales (www.hillsborough.realforeclose.com)

2) Redfin / Realtor.com / Zillow

3) ESPN. ;)

My goal for 2015 is simple-- generate enough cash flow to cover my monthly mortgage and continue to build savings. Ideally, I like to start with a duplex, but I'm keeping an open mind (since almost everyone else out there is looking for the same thing I am!). I'm not afraid of doing work on a "needs TLC" property. After living in a 100 year-old house for a decade, I've learned a few things (the hard way mostly!).

Thanks for making it this far into my introduction. I'd have clicked the Back button 100 words ago.

Kind regards,

Mark...