New Pro Member currently living in Istanbul, Turkey

[Brian Ross]

Hello everyone,

I've been lurking around the corners of BP for about a year, but decided to get serious and signed up for a pro membership given the value of the community that I've seen in past months!

I'm in the international development consulting industry, mostly working in private sector development/economic growth arena, and fortunate to be living overseas...at the moment, in Istanbul, Turkey. I spent much of 2016 in Myanmar, which has got to be one of the craziest real estate markets in the world in terms of rental prices for what you value actually get. Searching for office property in Myanmar (for work) was an interesting experience, to say the least. 

I'm a newbie investor, but come from a family who focused on rentals in college towns, which spurred my interest. Additionally, my family will eventually move back to the US, and I'd like to develop non-career related income that will allow us to be more flexible with where we'll choose to eventually settle. These, along with a desire to diversify retirement savings away from the standard investment vehicles, are the foundation for my interest in real estate. 

I've been researching various strategies for how I would like to invest, and there are some interesting hurdles that I'm enjoying thinking through given my occupation and physical locations. I'm starting to think that larger multi-families and smaller commercial apartment buildings may be the best approach for me at this stage, so I look forward to participating in future discussions about these as well as building potential partner relationships. 

I'm a big believer in what we call "inclusive growth" in my industry, which is broadly working to expand the benefits of economic growth to populations that are sometimes left behind within traditional growth models or political systems. In real estate, this means that I would like to operate using win-win partnerships, where investments can be used for my personal financial gain, but can also contribute to improving communities, enhancing community health and building community resilience and prosperity. 

Very happy to be on board here at BP! Please feel free to reach out with any questions - real estate or otherwise!