New Member from Houston, Texas

[Shawn Ab]

Hey,

Just wanted to introduce myself – long-time reader and decided to go ahead and take the plunge and finally create an account. I’ve been reading the BP blog posts/articles/forums and reading various RE books (HOLD by Steve Chader was my last one) for some time now and I (along with my business partner) are ready to finally jump head first into the RE investment world.

A bit about my background – UT grad, with work experience in the energy investment banking and hedge fund world (as well a few business forays including e-cig's and e-commerce). I know a fair amount about financial and investment analysis. I'm just adjusting myself to the RE world (cap rates, NOI, vacancy rates, etc versus the reserves, production, NAV world of energy). I do not have as much knowledge in the operational aspect of real estate (managing tenants, the nuances of real estate law, or extensive knowledge of HVAC/water/electricity/rehabbing/etc).

My partner and I are looking for a 4-plex (we will most likely do owner-occupied for better financing) in the more Southwestern Houston area (think Stafford/Alief/etc), but open to other areas as well – the SW area just happens to be much closer to us, considering we live in the Missouri City area. We are looking for a 4-plex property, ideally with minor cosmetic issues or turn-key for a passive (we both currently work relatively demanding FT jobs) buy and hold strategy with strong cash flows in mind.

Ideally, our plan is to continue to use leverage to our advantage in building a MFH portfolio (duplexes, triplexes, 4plexes with more rehabbing/value-add as we get more experience) using various financing sources that make sense and generating a strong cash-on-cash yearly return on our investment…and later moving onto larger projects (small apartment complexes, etc). I’ve also been reading a bit about note investing which seem pretty interesting (pretty complex as well), so maybe that is something to delve into further down the line.

Anyways, looking forward to networking with everyone on Bigger Pockets! Definitely many smart, savvy investors here – I’ve learned quite a bit from just reading various threads. I’m not sure what I can bring to the table currently considering my ‘green-ness’ to the real estate industry, but if anyone wants to talk about e-commerce or energy investing, I have a bit more experience that I can bring.

All the best,

Shawn