New in San Fran/Marin and looking for someone to invest with/in

[Sophie P.]

Hiya,

Wow, it's really great to have found this forum.

I've spent the last few weeks catching up on the podcasts and getting caught up on things in the bigger pockets world - great job guys!

A little about me:

I was made in Holland and much of my family still lives there but I grew up in South Africa. I left home when I was 17 and worked/travelled all over the world for 12 years. Every job I had, I absolutely loved. Of course there were some really tough

 times but for the most part I would be excited every day when I woke up and look forward to the day ahead. While I was working on a super yacht in the Caribbean I met Tom.

He convinced me to come visit him in san Francisco, I then convinced him to quit his job and do something he really loves - since I had experienced this enjoyment for most of my life and thought he should give it a shot too.

(Tom  was an investment banker in San Fran and would spend most of his days in a concrete building while my office was a turquoise ocean scattered with islands playing host to a single palm tree. It was bliss.)

It took a few months, but...long story short...Tom quit his job and decided to take a year off to chase waves around the globe. Within 3 months he convinced me to join him on his surfing adventure. And 9 months later - after having travelled 65,899 air miles; 1,390 nautical miles; 4,719 road miles; 42 cities and 8 countries together - Tom asked me to move back to San Francisco and marry him.

So here we are now, almost a year later.

Tom is back in investment banking; albeit with a different view on life. We spent the last 8 months trying to buy a condo in San Fran but kept getting out bid (all cash offers mainly from people who don't live in the USA).

At the time we had a pre-approved mortgage of $2,000,000 (what we thought was a decent amount) and were shocked to discover that we couldn't afford anything. We also weren't willing to OVER pay for something either (we offered $1.4million on a 1320sqft, 2br condo in Russian Hill that eventually went for $1.65?!)

During all this house "shopping" I discovered that I really enjoyed Real Estate and hunting for deals. Since I was not allowed to work as I was waiting for my green card/work permit, I decided to use the time productively and put it into real estate. I am in the process of completing my California Real Estate License and currently Temp at a REIT (I received my work permit and got a job immediately).

I have spent hours crunched over real estate books, newspapers, scurrying the web, text books, podcasts, driving around neighbourhoods, going to open houses etc. and have decided that Real Estate Investing is something I would like to eventually pursue full time.

If you've read this far , thank you! I know it's a long story so I appreciate your endurance.

Over the years I have saved up a decent nest egg and would like to put it to work in real estate. If there is anyone who is in the Marin/San Fran area and would like to meet  up for a coffee and discuss real estate investment opportunities that would be awesome!

Since I'm new to the area it would be great to meet some more people and if it's someone with a common interest even better.

Looking forward to meeting you!

Cheers

Soph