REI Rookie from Seattle, WA

[Richard Le]

Well, I’ve lurked long enough. Time to introduce myself! My name is Richard Le and I’m from Seattle, Washington. I work in IT as a systems analyst. My passions are travel, personal finance, and health/wellness. I own a townhouse here (primary residence) and I am looking to build a portfolio of rental properties to gain passive income as a way to diversify income streams, build wealth, and eventually reach financial independence.

I stumbled upon the idea of owning rental properties when I first refinanced my house and realized that I was paying significantly less in PITI than my next door neighbors were in rent. That led to me discovering the BiggerPockets website and podcast which are both awesome. I've since devoured The Ultimate Beginner's Guide, Investing in Real Estate With No or Low Money Down, Millionaire Real Estate Investor, FLIP, et al.

For a while, I was leaning towards the Buy - Renovate – Rent – Refi – Repeat strategy but the local market is probably out of reach for me at the moment so I’m looking at out of state investing, even turnkey (I know, the term strikes a nerve with a lot of folk). I’m ready to break from this state of analysis paralysis and have finally saved enough cash to make moves—but by no means am I above mentorship, guidance, networking, and continual learning. So here I am, a beginning real estate investor. Hope to engage with you all, learn what works for you, and contribute to the community!