Hello from Oakland, CA

[Abi Wegman]

Hello BP! 

My name is Abi (ah-bee), and I've been living in Oakland since August '15 and I grew up in Santa Rosa. 

My girlfriend and I are working as auditors in San Francisco, and looking to begin building our RE investing journey with an FHA loan on a 2-4 unit in about a year's time. We need that time to save up for the down payment and still have some money left over for living expenses.

We're drawn primarily to the Fix & Hold strategy, and while cash-flowing properties would be ideal, the more I'm reading the more I'm beginning to understand that trading cash flow for appreciation and equity might be a better route to take for long-term growth. It's also extremely difficult to find a cash-flow positive property in a safe area of the Bay with 3.5% down!

We're still quite young (I'm 26, she's 24) and our W2's can make up for any negative cash flow until the scale has tipped the other way.

We'll be attending @J.Martin 's meetup on Thursday of this week, and we're nervous and excited to meet some local investors!

Thanks for reading!

[Janet Voss]

Welcome to Bigger Pockets!  I'm hoping to attend the meet-up on Thursday as well.