Hello everyone!

I'm joining Bigger Pockets today after a year of listening to the podcast on my hour commute. 

I have 2 years of experience in commercial banking as a Credit Analyst at regional banks in Indiana, PA and Johnstown, PA. I've been interested in building a business for passive income since graduating from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with my B. S. in Finance in 2013. 

After checking out many business models/industries, I've decided real estate is the best way for me to build personal wealth with lower risk. The reasons real estate attracts me personally over other small businesses are too many to list, but I'll write some big ones below: 

- As a father of two only two years removed from college, I support my family, but don't have any savings built up yet. Student loans are just the best... In real estate, I can use OPM (other people's money) to fund most of my "startup" costs. 

- Other businesses are subject to outsized risk of factors outside my control. Real estate allows me to mitigate almost all my risks through diligent underwriting, tenant screening, self education and common sense! 

- I've seen firsthand the power real estate has to build wealth. I've analyzed C&I (commercial & industrial) and CRE (commercial real estate) loans from $500k-$5 million for the past two years from a bank's perspective and I've of typed in so many zeros on RE investors' personal balance sheets that it's just a no brainier at this point.

I'm interested in getting started in small multi-family buy-and-hold rentals in the next two years after moving to a warmer climate at some point in 2016. (I'm going to be sending out resumes in Colorado, North Carolina and South Carolina in the near future.)

After I post this, I'm going to buy The Book on Flipping Houses, The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs, The Book on Rental Property Investing and The Book on Property Management to immerse myself in the subject before asking for OPM and settling down in a long term location. 

In the meantime, if you're in the Johnstown/Indiana/Altoona/Pittsburgharea say hello!