New from Minneapolis, Minnesota

[Matthew Carlson]

Hello everyone my name is Matt Carlson form Blaine, MN a northern suburb of Minneapolis for those who are not from the area.  I have been a metal fabricator for 10 years.  I'm married to my beautiful wife Kristin.  Have a delightful little 3 year old girl Corinne, as well as one in the oven that should be done by the end of March.  I would definitely say I fall in the analysis paralysis category as I have been lurking on bigger pockets for over two years now with no serious intent on buying any real estate.   I've been looking into real estate to start replacing some of my income so I am able to spend more time with my growing family.

[Chris Skjolsvik]

Hey Matthew,

I live in Andover and previously lived in Blaine. It sounds like we have some things in common... My wife and I have a soon-to-be 3-yr old, and a 1-yr old. I also am suffering from analysis paralysis.... I have been looking to get into fix and flipping and then fix and holding but I haven't purchased anything yet. Truth be told I spent a lot of time looking for deals through the MLS in 2014 and didn't find anything where the numbers worked with my finances or experience. I don't know if MLS deals are scarce and more creative methods are needed (yellow letters, driving for dollars, etc etc etc) or if the current market is not conducive for flipping in the price range I've been looking (175k - 300k ARV).

FYI - there are several investor groups in the Minneapolis area.  One of the free ones is TCREI (Twin Cities Real Estate Investors, look on meetup.com) which is organized by Pine Financial, a hard money lender.  They provide a different topic of education the 2nd Tuesday of each month (today!) at 6pm at Grumpy's in Roseville.  It's a good place to network and learn and there is very minimal sales pitch from Pine.  Let me know if plan to attend and we can chat.