Paid off $20,000 in debt, now developing buy and hold criteria.

[Matt Snow]

Hi everyone, 

My name is Matt Snow, and I am very new to this whole world of real estate investing. 

I graduated from PLNU in San Diego with a Business Admin degree in 2010, and moved up to Santa Cruz in 2013. During that move, I had a full-time job with Trader Joes, and about $40,000 in high interest personal debt and student loans. My monthly loan payments and basic expenses were virtually the same as my monthly income amount. It was time to buckle down and dig myself out of a deep hole. I made the decision to forgo paying rent, live frugally out of my truck, and put everything towards paying off debt using the snowball strategy. Six months later, I had paid off enough to afford a trailer in Bonny Doon for $450/month, (still the lowest rent I have ever seen in this area) and continue to live there today.

In spring 2014, I took on a second job managing a small boutique hotel in Capitola, to accelerate my debt payoff. As of right now, I have paid off all of my debt (with the exception of the student loan) and continue to work 60-80 hours/week between Trader Joe's and the hotel. This last spring, I have focused solely on securing my financial future through real estate. That is how I stumbled upon Bigger Pockets.

Lately, I have been reading and learning everything I can about Real Estate Investing, while saving for a down payment and developing my niche/strategy/criteria. I will be attending as many REI meet-ups as I can fit in around my work schedule. My current plan is to implement a Buy and Hold strategy of multi-family rentals, and ultimately generate enough cash flow to leave both jobs and focus on R.E.I. full time.

Due to my current financial standing (little debt, hardly any savings) and physical location, (inflated SF Bay area market) I realize it will not be an easy task to find and purchase my first cash-flowing property. However, I don't believe it's impossible. This has led me to focus on different methods of financing and seek out slightly less popular areas around Monterey Bay (i.e. Salinas valley, Watsonville, Soledad etc.) I'm also not opposed to investing out of state if it works out better financially. My one problem is that I love living here in Bonny Doon, and would have a really hard time moving to a less expensive inland location. I am an avid surfer. : )

Over all, I am really looking forward to future discussions with everyone here in the BP community, and am very excited to begin my R.E.I. journey! Any comments, advice, ideas, concerns, input are completely welcomed.

Thank you,

-Matt