Dan, New Investor in St. Louis, MO

[Dan Schnurbusch]

Hello BiggerPockets folks,

Although I originally created my profile a while back, I never got serious about real estate investing until quite recently. After obtaining my law degree from the University of Missouri, Columbia, I bought a house with my wife and started work in civil defense litigation in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. As the son of an amateur woodworker/furniture builder/home improvement aficionado, I have started developing twin interests in home improvement and passive income. Naturally, my earlier exposure to BiggerPockets came to mind and led me back here to formally introduce myself. I don't yet have any legitimate experience in real estate investing, but my professional training has allowed me to become comfortable interpreting, researching for, and drafting contracts and other legal instruments. Additionally, although I can in no way profess to be an expert, I took classes in law school about real estate transactions and finance, and so some parts of the process are not totally foreign to me.

In general, I'm fascinated by the prospect of being my own boss and developing a growing side business that could one day independently sustain me and my family. At this point, I'm most interested in buy-and-hold investment in rental properties, perhaps with a property manager given my day job (although I'm still learning more about the actual time and energy demands involved should one choose to personally manage his or her properties).

I'm certain that at this point I don't even know what I don't know and that simply pulling the trigger will be the biggest step for me (once a suitable property has been found, of course), but what I don't fully understand at this point is how best to find investment-priced properties. I read from an experienced poster that using the MLS and other web-based systems is not always very reliable because most well-priced properties with strong ROI potential will have already been picked over by aggressive investors. I get the impression that networking with wholesalers and other industry professionals might be the best way to make contacts that could lead to well-priced deals. For that reason, I came here hoping to integrate into the BiggerPockets investment community, especially with those who might be living in or around the St. Louis area. The stories of folks on here are an absolute inspiration, and I sincerely look forward to whatever being a part of the BiggerPockets community might mean going forward.

Happy investing!

Dan