Newbie from Winston-Salem, NC

[Jason Bray]

Hi! I'm Jason Bray. I've lived in NC my entire life. I have zero experience in real estate investing (REI), but I do come from a family full of land/property owners. My parents had rental properties for many years but have never really enjoyed the process of managing them. At this point, they still have a lot of land but no properties. Any time I bring up REI with them I get a somewhat frosty response. It should be noted they have no idea resources like this exist.

I've looked into REI in the past and have always walked away thinking there's no way I can do it. There's the common fear of doing something stupid causing me to get in over my head. For some reason though REI keeps popping back up on my radar every so often even though I try to ignore it. Is it a sign? Maybe...

My wife and I live paycheck to paycheck with almost nothing in savings and we are always stressed about money. I have a job I generally enjoy and I even get to work from home full-time, but I'd really like to be my own boss. I am exhausted living like this. I think I am smart enough to figure REI out.

I discovered BiggerPockets through a podcast where BP was mentioned and since then have learned of the impressive community thriving here.

My goals: I don't have aspirations of being a multi-millionaire real estate baron.  At this point, I am interested in generating passive income most likely via buy and hold rentals. If I could somehow generate 150K-200K annually I'd be a happy camper. Right now the reality of that actually happening ranks alongside unicorns and leprechauns. I just turned 40 a couple of months ago. I'd like to see what I can accomplish by the time I am 50.