New Investors from Silicon Valley

[Jeff Clark]

Hi all! My name is Jeff Clark and I was born and raised in Los Gatos, a suburb of San Jose in the Silicon Valley. After graduating from college I moved back home to work full time at my church as a youth pastor. Throughout my life I have been a saver and during my sophomore year of high school I began following the stock market. My introduction to stocks came between 2007-2009, quite a crazy time to be following the movements of the market! I am still interested in investing in equities but since high school two key relationships in my life have shown me the possibilities of real estate investing. Both my uncle and my fiancés grandpa have done very well through diversified portfolios in real estate (apartment complexes, single family residences, storage complexes, commercial real estate and mobile home parks). I look up to these two men very much. They have taken me under their wing and shown me the possibilities that REI can hold. It's hard to look back after seeing the light!

As I look forward to getting married in the next few months, being DINKs, and having a lot of disposable income, my goal is to save aggressively to invest in my first real estate deal within the next 10 months. My fiancé is on board with the plan. She has seen how her grandparents' real estate investments have changed her family's legacy, and wants to continue that trend for future generations. I have been talking about partnering with a friend in a similar situation, @Karl Holmlund, and he introduced me to BP. This community is awesome! Right now we are both excited about the possibilities the future holds in real estate. We are seeking counsel wherever we can find it, devouring books on the subject, and listening regularly to the BP Podcast. Our hope is to invest in mid-size apartment buildings outside of our immediate area (and probably out of state) because finding a cash flowing property in our area is just about impossible. Two possible markets based on relationships we have are around Eugene, Oregon and Austin, Texas.

@Karl Holmlund it's your turn to introduce yourself!