New to the REIT World in Worcester, MA

[Matthew Ryan]

Hello All,

My name is Matt, and I am a 27 year old financial analyst in Massachusetts.  I have always dreamed of being my own boss and creating a lifestyle of my choosing, and doing something I think I can be passionate about.  This does not involve sitting in front of Excel spreadsheets for 50 hours per week and making a decent, yet modest income until I am old enough to be a grandfather and can retire.  Being relatively early in my career, and carrying some awesome student loans, I, like many other I am assuming, started thinking of any way I could change the path of my life. 

After finally saving enough, and working through a couple promotions at work, I could afford to move out with an old college buddy.  We got a small, but nice, 2 bedroom condo in downtown Worcester.  one day, playing around on the real estate sites I found our condo on, I found our condo and when it was sold and how much it went for.  Being somewhat of a numbers guy, I did simple math so see that my landlord was making somewhere in the $300-400 per month range off of us after paying the mortgage.  After seeing that and realizing that we have not called him once for an issue (knock on wood), I just couldn't let go of the fact that he just stops by and grabs a total of about $2250 every month off of the couple units he has and then its radio silence until the first of the next month.

Given the total "Newb" state I am in, I did my research and stumbled across a ton of info online.  In that I found the BP podcasts on YouTube.  They now run constantly in the background while I work. (Which leads to more stopping and taking notes than it does working... oops).

All that being said, It looks like I am trying to be a "house hacker".  I'm currently looking at duplexes in the Worcester area and along the 290/495 belt.  Money is tight with the student loans, but this is the way to freedom and I can see it.  I'm still drinking out of the fire hose of info on this site and in the forums, but just wanted to say "Hey" and any info for this newb is more than welcomed!

Thanks Guys!