Completely new, mostly clueless, super ambitious. [Nebraska etc.]

[Jason W.]

Hi, everybody.  I'm looking to get into the real estate market in Omaha, and eventually expand out of state - and I may possibly move out of the country.

My little life story (this may help with any advice or resource recommendations):  I'm in my mid-30s, I've never owned property, and I haven't exactly been down the smoothest path in life (medical issues, anxiety issues, poverty, blah blah blah).  Things are starting to shape up (rather, I'm starting to shape things up), and I've decided to put in the work and the study to become a success.  I used to look at wealthy and successful people and assume they were all old money, or they'd sold their souls, or worked 100 hours per week and had joyless lives.  It's starting to seep in that that isn't always the case.

I just finished college with my bachelors in logistics, transportation, and supply chain management.  I mean, just a couple of weeks ago.  I don't even have a related job yet.  I don't think that's going to help me out a whole lot, but I figured I'd throw that in there in case anyone is able to connect some unseen dots for me.

My basic plan is to work my *** off so I can get enough for a down payment on a small apartment building (maybe 5-20 units).  Then get an apartment building.  Ensure it is running smoothly, then get another.  Rinse and repeat.  Then again, and again, and so on.  Eventually, I'd like to be successful enough to have a staff to manage my properties, and possibly even begin to manage properties for others - but that's something for much later.

Right now, I don't know the first thing about buying property.  I've lived in apartments half of my life, have learned a bit about business in school, and I'm fairly intelligent, so I have a fairly decent idea of how to run a small complex on a very basic level (maintenance, pricing rent, etc.).  So far, that's where it starts and ends.  Other than that, I'm just a regular guy with so-so credit and earning capabilities of around $50k yearly net (although, I am perfectly capable of living on around $20k yearly and working a ton of overtime).  That doesn't sound exactly promising, right?

So... I need to figure out pretty much everything.  I figure I'll spend at least a good 200 hours or so on here and absorbing information - just to get started.  I need to figure out everything from taxes to legal issues to things to look for and/or avoid, and so on.  I'm willing to go back to school if I can find a degree program that might help me with this.  But I've decided that owning and running apartments is one of the few things (if not the only thing) that's ever actually, genuinely sounded both interesting and profitable to me, and I would love to devote my time and energy into starting a company and building it up to something significant.

I like the idea of being able to do this in another state as well, but one step at a time.  I'd also like to be able to keep my properties here but move to Europe, though I'm not sure how the taxes or laws work in a situation like that - but again, one step at a time.  Oh, I should probably also mention that I'm looking at starting with regular, middle-class, simple places.  Nothing with pools or extravagant appliances, mahogany, or granite, basically.  

One last thing:  I'd like to be able to figure out how much profit I could bring in after expenses, and whether I should use that profit into paying off my loans early, or put it straight toward buying other small apartment buildings.  Like I said, I don't need a lot to get by, and I'm not the type that's interested in buying a house or a new car or anything - I'm pretty frugal, so I'll definitely be able to put more/most of my profits back into the property (or new properties).

That all being said, thanks a lot for reading, and I'd appreciate any and all suggestions, comments, stories, resources, advice, or anything else from you kind readers.  I would especially be interested in hearing a success story or two from someone with a similar background (that is to say, someone starting with basically nothing).  Also, if anyone has any questions for clarification or other reasons, I'll be more than happy to answer!