Hello everyone! Excited to start this long real estate journey

[Pablo Mendez]

Hello BP!

We have had a long journey already to get to this point. Amy (my spouse) and I were $85,000 in debt when we met. Seven years ago we decided that a debt free life was one we wanted to achieve and live... so over 3 years we paid off all of our debts (this while we were students and had regular jobs.) 

After that, we cash flowed paying for all of our big expenses... cars, birth of our two daughters (home births at $7K each), tuition for both of our Nursing School tuition, wedding / honeymoon, big tax bill we had this year etc. 

Our original plan was to save up and pay cash for our first primary home, something modest for our area. We have been renting for a long time while we cash flowed and saved up. 

It has taken us longer than we had planned... so we are closing this Friday June 2nd on our first primary home using a mortgage. Our plan was to attack this mortgage with a vengeance and pay it off fully in 5 years (mortgage is $1700 month, but would send $3400 per month.) We just love the idea of having a paid for home. It must be an awesome feeling. 

However, over the past weeks, we have been thinking of adjusting our plan. We could be in a small real estate bubble right now and there could be a correction coming in 4, 5 ,6 years perhaps. 

So right now we are asking ourselves... in 5 years during a market correction when properties are selling for a discount, would we rather have a paid for house, or $150,000 cash available to purchase a few properties. 

We talked about having a 100% debt free life, now we are considering finding a conservative balance to where we could use small amounts of "good" debt. We are both Nurses; it is a rewarding but demanding profession. We love what we do but we see ourselves not enjoying it in the long run. Real Estate will be our vehicle to the lifestyle life we will achieve. 

Anyway, excited about our closing this Friday and about the beginning of our real estate journey. 

P.S this is the property that we are buying as our primary home. Purchased for $188... appraised for $202. A little bit of equity for our first real estate deal, we plan on being here +10 years, purchased here for access to quality schools in a great neighborhood. We are in the Covington, Louisiana area (50 miles north of New Orleans)

[Xeniya McBroom]

Hello Pablo and Amy, Welcome to BP! I love your story and the evolution of your financial strategy. You are so great at sticking to the budget that a little "good" debt will not hurt you! You will see the benefits of it soon enough. I, on the other hand, just love debt, or that's what it might seem like to anyone looking at my credit report, however, what I really love is the cash flow that allows me to pay my monthly debt and have money leftover to save even faster than I would've been able to had I had no debt. When people ask me if I'm saving money, I always say "no, only spending". At this point of my beginning stages of real estate investing, I use every penny I save to reinvest in the next flip or rental. Good luck! You're on the right path!