Aspiring REI from Phoenix AZ

[Anna M]

Hi everyone!

My name is Anna Mirochnitchenko and I’m an aspiring REI. I’ve been reading BP for a little while and figured now is the time to introduce myself.

Originally I am from Russia, but now I live in Phoenix AZ (it's quite a climate change :D ). I have a Bachelor of BA degree in finance and an MBA and I’ve been working in corporate finance for 5 years now.

I became interested in investing in the last couple of years, mainly as I started thinking about the future and my “grown up†life (meaning life after college). In order to maintain a decent lifestyle, I would have to work for the rest of my life! What a shock!! :D Somehow that thought never occurred to me during my college years :D

Don’t get me wrong - I am not afraid of working hard and I don’t anticipate ever really retiring in the traditional sense (bingo and dinner at 5pm :D). I just realized that I want more out of life – being able to stay home when I start a family is one important goal. And my ultimate dream is doing work that I truly love! I am not sure what it is yet, but I want to be able to do whatever it ends up being, without having to worry about how much or little it pays. Really that would be a perfect “retirement†in my world. And I can see that an 8-5 corporate job is just not going to get me there.

So what I am working towards is establishing some cash flow. $1K per month is my 5 year goal. Eventually I’d like to get out of the rat race through RE, but continue working for fun. I’d like to try the buy & hold strategy, focusing on rentals here in PHX. My current salary will probably allow me to do 1 deal a year, so I am working to get a higher paying primary job in order to be fund my investing activities. I have little experience – only bought 1 property so far – my own condo – so I am trying to start small and learn as much as I can from others. I actually enjoy doing rehab work, but don’t have much experience beyond cosmetic upgrades I’ve done on my own condo.

I’m looking forward to becoming a more active poster on BP and hopefully doing my first deal soon. Any advice you want to send my way will be greatly appreciated!

Anna M