Getting Started in Herndon, VA

[Alan Taylor]

I'm a cartographer in Northern Virginia, in my early 30s with a wife and two children.  I've been interested in real estate ever since I read Kiyosaki's 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad' shortly after graduating high school -- but I've long been intimidated by the capital required to get started.  

My wife and I have a lofty, but achievable goal of 'retiring' (read: no longer working in an office away from home, full time') before either of us turn 40.  We'd love to spend more time with family, do more volunteer work, and establish a permaculture farm together -- and teach as many people as we can, as much as we know along the way! 

My goal here is to build up a portfolio of rental real estate that will help us create the $45k annual income aiming for in our debt-free (including free and clear home of our own) lifestyle after I stop working full time.

We're currently about a year away from being debt-free -- but we are also still renting.  Neither of us have every purchased a property -- and so a rental unit *might* just be our first purchase! 

I'm also currently studying to get my real estate license here in the state of Virginia -- with a goal to be licensed, and associated with a brokerage here in the Northern Virginia area before the end of this year. 

My hobbies are woodworking, antique tool restoration, gardening, financial literacy education, volunteer work through my church congregation.  

I've been listening to the podcast for several months now - and can't wait to dive in to the give and take of the forums here at Bigger Pockets! 

Cheers!