Investor in Japan and Bakersfield, CA

[Bill Baldwin]

Hey all.  After listening to the BP podcasts for the past couple of months, I finally decided to hop on the site.  My profile summary pretty much sums up my current experience and goals, so I'll post it again here.  Looking forward to making some connections out there so we can start helping each other out!

I first jumped into real estate in the summer of 2013 when I purchased a fully leveraged 20-unit rental property in northern Japan. At the time I had absolutely no idea what I was doing but it seemed like a good investment and I was intrigued by the possible tax savings, and so I decided to take the chance. An American originally from Boston but currently living in Tokyo, I have since purchased 2 other fully leveraged buildings in the greater Tokyo area (a couple of 8 unit) and most recently a 6 unit in Bakersfield California.

Before my first purchase I had absolutely no experience in or knowledge of real estate, and each deal I do I feel like there's more I don't know than I do, however the amount I've learned just by the experiences I've had since I began has been incredible. My strategy from the beginning has been networking and finding people with experience, offering to take them out for a coffee or a beer, and listening to their experience while grilling them with as many questions as possible.

My goals in joining biggerpockets are to continue to learn from those with more experience than me while making better connections in the local markets that I have interest in (Bakersfield, greater Boston, Japan) while sharing my experiences and advice with those newer to real estate who may be interested in the areas I have experience.

[Gene Hacker]

Welcome,  I work in Bakersfield and have rentals around 35 miles from Bakersfield.

I often meet or hear of investors from the Bay Area or So Cal but not very often from out the state, let alone, out of the country.

I am curious how you came to pick Bakersfield as one of the areas you invest in.