New Member From Calgary, Alberta

[Liam Barber]

Hey Guys,

My name's Liam, I am a 31 year old Husband and Father of an amazing 2 year old boy.  I am new to the site and real estate in general.  I'm on here to learn and build a network in real estate as I purchase my first home and start my quest in the ventures of Real Estate.  I have just finished reading the free Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Real Estate Investing and there was tones of great information for me to digest.  Thank-You for the free read that was awesome, you guys answered a lot of questions and generally helped point me in the right direction.  On that Note here is a list of my goal for the time being.

1) Education - I am seriously new to Real Estate Investing and I am looking for the Top books on Single Family and Multi Family Home investing.  Since i will be purchasing my first home shortly i would like to learn as much about Single Family Homes to start then move on to Multi Family.  I can go through material quickly so if any one is able to provide me with a top 10 books in each category that would be much appreciated. 

2) Networking - I was looking for a site that not only provided information to get me started but a strong network of people who i can lean on for answers.  I am also looking forward to growing as an individual and finding out what i can provide to give back to the community.  I have never been very active in forums before, i have however navigated and used them as a research / learning tool.  Also looking forward to growing in that area!

3) 1st REI - I mentioned earlier my wife and I are looking to purchase our first home in the next 3 month. During this time i am looking to absorb every ounce of information on real estate available to me. I super excited and highly motivated to grow and take the next big step in my life with my family.

4) 2nd REI - After i buy my first home i want to start by investing in either/both single family homes; Reno the basement into a suit for double income or duplex / four-plex. I have the advantages of a strong stock investment return with my full time job and can raise about 20k in the year after purchasing my first home. I need to define if i want to flip these or just hold them. I'm thinking hold right now.

5) Start a REI Company. - I'm not sure if this should come before the 2nd REI or after? Either way i figured getting at least my first real investment other then my personal home going and start going thru some of the growing pains was the right direction. After getting my feet wet i could then start my own company. There should probably be another education section jammed in between Goals 4 and 5 on REI start up companies and everything that comes along with running it.

6) Grow my portfolio - As the years pass and i start to master the ins and outs of rental properties i will want to flex the brain muscle and expand my company.  I will either look at moving to apartments are just investing in land.  This Goal is going to change many times over the years.  It will be fun to look back and see what i first put down.

7) Grow My Company to a Point of Financial Freedom - This is the end game. To grow the company to a point where my family is taken care of.  It's that simple! i think it's what every Father wants deep down.  Its what drives me every morning to get up and be a better man. 

8) Give Back - Be a mentor to some one else starting out.  I think this goal is obtainable at every level.  Ex. Once i have learned which books are good or bad i can pass along that knowledge and so forth.

Wow that was lengthy.  If you actually read all that thank you.  I read the intro tips section but i couldn't gauge if I was suppose to be in depth or just a brief hello.  So since i mentioned earlier i wanted to be more active on the forums i just went for it and spilled my beans.  I wanted to get my goals out there.  Realistically this is going to take a life time to achieve, which I'm excited to share my journey with everyone.  I am going to achieve my first 3 goals this year build a strong foundation to grow on.  After this post i will look to have a fresh post for each goal as i progress to financial freedom.  I will also refresh my goals yearly to stay aligned with my end goal.  I know there will be many variables through out my life that will alter my course.  With all that said I am very open to Constructive Feed Back as I truly feel that is the only way you can grow.  So please any tips and tricks from anything like Posting on forums to Investing in Real Estate are welcome.

Thank You

Liam Barber

Calgary Alberta CAN.