Hi from Portland, Connecticut

[Erica Law]

Hello everyone! My name is Erica and I am joining y'all from Portland, CT. So my story is, I was an international tax adviser for years until 3 months ago when I quit to change everything (travel across the country, find new creative ways to make money, that sort of thing). One of my goals was to start investing my savings more responsibly, as the stock market has not been kind to me (will oil please go up already??), and to buy 1 or 2 rental properties to bring in some steady income.

I am your typical over-analyzer on steroids and have spent the last week listening to the BP podcasts, reading books, searching posts, etc. I thought I had decided to engage in some direct marketing to find great deals, but then I saw a few posts saying one should think twice about wholesaling (ala this article). This argument seems valid to me, given the cost and time I would be committing to buy all of 2 houses, and the fact that it complicates a process I am already struggling to tackle. I should also note that I am very introverted, which probably doesn't bode well for wholesaling. 

But in any event, I am still debating whether it makes sense to direct market for the experience, or to have a real estate agent scour the MLS in hopes of finding good deals in my area. I have enough saved to pay in full for either one nice multifamily or two drug dens. Financing may be hard given my current joblessness, which I don't intend to change for a long while, so either it's going to be drug dens or I'd need to find really good deals.

Anyway, was that the longest post ever? If you made it this far, thanks for learning about me, and hope to see you around the forum!