New member in NW Indiana

[Josh Skogen]

Hi all! I'm thrilled to be part of the BiggerPockets community! It can be a full time job just researching things on this site. It's great to have so much information here. We're looking forward to networking with investors in this area, and being an active part of the BP community.

An introduction: my wife's name is Katie, and we have four kids, whom we homeschool. I serve as a pastor in Portage, IN. Pastors in my circles make a very modest income. When thinking with my wife about retirement, the future of our children, and the financial blessing we wish to be to the church and to others, we brainstormed ways that we can make extra income. Real estate investing was an idea we kept coming to. 

A few years ago we were looking into it, but could not qualify for a loan. I wish we knew more about the creative financing options. We dropped the idea. Recently we have been revisiting the idea, and in my research I came across BP, and it sure has motivated my wife and I to go ahead and get into real estate investing.

At this time, my wife and I are pretty much settled on the niche of buy and holds. We have an agent, got some approvals from lenders with both conventional and rehab loans, and are now on the search. (For the rehab loan, we got pre-approved for a Fannie Mae Homestyle Renovation Loan. It seems like a great option...so far as we know. But it doesn't seem to be well known, and not many lenders offer it. I don't know why.)

Sorry for the length! Good to meet you folks!