Aspiring to be a full time RE investor within 5 years

[Gregory Potemken]

I am currently a senior at the United States Merchant Marine Academy in New York, studying to be a maritime engineer. When I graduate this June, I will have a service obligation of 5 years to the maritime industry on U.S. seagoing vessels. I will spend a lot of time at sea (about half of every year) and make good money; however, I would like to transfer out of the maritime industry eventually, and into real estate investing full time.

Right now, I am looking to educate myself as much as possible about the various aspects of RE investing by avoiding all the guru traps, network with experienced investors, and learn to wholesale.  I want to learn to wholesale, not because I am trying to make money, but because it will help me learn to analyze deals and learn the ropes of RE investing at a no-risk level.  It is also the maximum amount of real estate exposure I can handle at this point in my career.

Other than that, I'm young (22), sharp, and motivated to learn everything I possibly can about real estate investing.  I'm looking forward to seeing everything this site has to offer!

[Darren Sager]

Welcome to BP @Gregory Potemken ! Thanks for taking the time to introduce yourself. I think a great way to begin using BP is to read the Bigger Pockets Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Real Estate Investing as Josh and Brandon did a great job with it. And now that you're here we'd love to see you be an active member of the BP community so be sure to set up Keywords Alerts for your local area such as "Great Neck" or "NYC" if you're looking to find potential opportunities for investing, education in a subject, or other members in your area.

Use the Find Members area to network with other members who are local to you or are in an area you're wanting to invest in. Podcasts come out weekly and are great way to learn on the move. I find there's always a gold nuggets of information in each one and I go back to listen to a number of them multiple times.

If you want to find events that are going on in your area be sure to check out the Real Estate Events and Happenings area of BiggerPockets. Here you can find meet ups of local BP members or other groups that get together, network, and have education about real estate investing. Some of these events they might try to sell you into a mentoring program or try to sell you something else. In most cases you'll find everything you need here on BP so don't spend any extra money elsewhere. There are many great members here on BP who are tremendous resources of information and will help you greatly. And there are some who are just here to try to sell you something so don't be naive to it. Their true intentions come out eventually.

Be sure to read through the rules of the forums here. How you'll get the most out of BiggerPockets is to understand how to navigate through it and understand that it's a two way street. You'll get out of it what you put into it so become active and help us grow the community and wealth of knowledge that's already here.

If you appreciate a post that a fellow member put up responding to you be sure to say "Thank You!" by casting a vote for it. If you're reading through the forums and a post or response is good or answers another member's question well then cast a vote for it. It's our own version of liking something on Facebook provided you're familiar with that. Simply click the box in the upper right corner of the post!

And lastly I highly recommend becoming a Plus or Pro member of the site and take advantage of all that BP has to offer you. It's like getting the keys to the kingdom. It will be one of the best investments you'll make when it comes your real estate investing.

Again welcome to Bigger Pockets!