New member from Spokane, WA

[Lara Hemingway]

Hello,  My goal is to purchase my first investment property by the end of 2016, and to build a portfolio of properties thereafter that cash flow for a long term buy and hold strategy.  Happy to be part of the community.  - Lara

[Gerrit Harner]

Hi Lara, welcome to BiggerPockets. It's a great place to learn and connect with like minded people. Spokane is a great market. I'm a member of Next Gen REI Club of Spokane, we are one of the oldest and largest REI clubs in the area. I'd like to take this time to invite you to check us out.our regular meeting is the second Thursday of each month (last Thursday) but that's ok tomarrow night (Tuesday)we have game night, we play CASHFLOW at 6pm. Come out and play with us! We also have a new community of investors " Team Invest Pro " they are a community dedicated to helping investors thrive thru a common education and a community working together, they meet every Thursday at 630pm in this community you are no longer trying to figue REI alone. So come play CASHFLOW with us on Tuesday at 6pm and check out what "Team Invest Pro" has to offer on Thursday at 630pm either day just tell them Gerrit invited you.

We are located at:

The Arcadia Springs building 

12929  E Sprague Ave 

Spokane Valley, Wa. 

Looking forwardto meeting you. 

[Aaron Miley]

Welcome to BP Lara! Like Gerritt said, Spokane is a great market. BP has a lot of great resources to get your investment career started and the Ultimate Beginners Guide is really awesome. Don't forget to listen to the podcast, lots of useful information in there.

My advice as a newbie is to reach out to the local REI mentioned above and get connected with other investors.

Figure out where you want to start and make a plan.

Good luck and feel free to ask lots of questions.

[Paul Timmins]

@Lara Hemingway

Welcome. Fill in the foundation below.

Check out the Start Here page http://www.biggerpockets.com/starthere

Check out BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginner's Guide - A fantastic free book that walks through many of the key topics of real estate investing.

Check out the free BiggerPockets Podcast - A weekly podcast with interviews and a ton of great advice. And you get the benefit of having over 100 past ones to catch up on.

Locate and attend 3 different local REIA club meetings great place to meet people gather resources and info. Here you will meet wholesalers who provide deals and rehabbers (cash buyers). Find them through Google and meetup.com

Two Great reads, I bought both J. Scott The Book on Flipping Houses, The Book on Estimating ReHab Costs http://www.biggerpockets.com/flippingbook

Download BP’s newest book here some good due diligence in Chapter 10. Real Estate Rewind Starting over

http://www.biggerpockets.com/files/user/brandonatbp/file/real-estate-rewind-a-biggerpockets-community-book

Good Luck

Paul 

[Lara Hemingway]

Thanks, Paul... Great suggestions. Bigger Pockets is such a great resource. I can't wait to spend more time poking around the site. 

[Jill DeWit]

Hi @Lara Hemingway and welcome to Bigger Pockets! Bigger Pockets allows you to get deals done right and connect with other investors. I wish you nothing but the best. You are not alone in your real estate ambition. 

[Lara Hemingway]

Thanks to everyone for the welcoming comments. I am looking forward to connecting here in Spokane and beyond!  Gerrit and Aaron, I expect we'll run into each other shortly in our little big town.