New Member, Investor in Jacksonville FL

[Daniel Fico]

I am new to the forums, but not necessarily new to BiggerPockets as I've been reading articles to learn the 'buzz words' and new concepts/techniques over the past 2-3 years. My family recently moved to the Jacksonville FL area, and I'm looking to start a part-time business in real estate investing that will eventually lead into a full-time career change. My ideal scenario would be to own a small investment company with a partner that holds a few mid-sized rental properties for baseline income, and supplements this with a few high-profit flips every year to help grow the rental portfolio and pay for lifestyle upgrades, vacations, etc.

My formal education is an Electrical Design engineer, and for the past 10 years I've worked for large companies designing complex electronic (computer) circuits for things like Medical Devices, LED lighting, etc. For the most part I enjoy this work, and I'm paid very well to do it, however I never wake up excited to go to work. I realized it was not my passion - my night, weekends, and conversations with friends was always centered around 'real estate'. Also, I'm pretty certain owning my own business is the only way I will be happy - I'll never be satisfied if I'm not sitting at the table when the 'big' decisions steering a company direction are made. 

I've only dipped my toes into the real estate investing world over the past 5-6 years, but I've been incredibly successful and I've learned a lot from the experiences. I started in the Boston market from 2010 to 2015, so I am aware most of this success was just right place at the right time. Now that I have relocated to Jacksonville Florida, I'm looking to take the capital I've built and start a more serious real estate investing campaign.

In closing, I plan to be a much more active member in the BiggerPockets community over the next few months, years, etc. I hope to find people in my area with similar goals to partner with - I see a lot of competition but I still think the Jacksonville area is ripe with opportunity for organized, trustworthy companies. I look forward to being another success story based on the knowledge and connections I've made through this community!

Thanks,

Dan