New Member from Long Island, NY

[Ray Smith]

Hello everyone! I'm 22 years old from Long Island. I work in New York City as a Paramedic as I finish my degree in Health Science at Stony Brook University. I've always been looking for that other way to build wealth besides my career. I began listening to a few REI podcasts including the one from BP. That led to reading books and articles from other investors. I've been talking to friends of the family who own multiple houses that are rented out and a family member who is a real estate lawyer. I am in no way done learning about RE but I finally found a way to build wealth that I have a genuine interest in. Right now I'm saving to start out with a house hack, and should be in a position to buy within the year. I'm excited that I've found BP and a community of people that have a passion for sharing their success and knowledge. I come from a working class town and family, any excitement about REI is met with double the negative input from most the people I'm surrounded by. I LUCKILY have two friends who work in finance who share my interest that keep me from being discouraged. So thanks, because if it wasn't for all of the interactions that I've seen in this forum so far I very well could have dropped the REI plan a long time ago.

[Darren Sager]

Welcome to BP @Ray Smith ! Thanks for taking the time to introduce yourself. I think a great way to begin using BP is to read the Bigger Pockets Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Real Estate Investing as Josh and Brandon did a great job with it. And now that you're here we'd love to see you be an active member of the BP community so be sure to set up Keywords Alerts for your local area such as "Long Island" or "Garden City" if you're looking to find potential opportunities for investing, education in a subject, or other members in your area.

Use the Find Members area to network with other members who are local to you or are in an area you're wanting to invest in.  I'm sure you know by now Podcasts come out weekly and are great way to learn on the move. I find there's always a gold nuggets of information in each one and I go back to listen to a number of them multiple times.

If you want to find events that are going on in your area be sure to check out the Real Estate Events and Happenings area of BiggerPockets. Here you can find meet ups of local BP members or other groups that get together, network, and have education about real estate investing. Put in your ZIP code above the map and do a search within 25 miles to see the upcoming local events. Beware at some (not all) of these events they might try to sell you a mentoring program, sell you something else, or they may even be run by someone who has little to no direct experience in real estate investing. Networking in real estate investing is vital so don’t be daunted and go to the events!

In most cases you'll find everything you need here on BP so don't spend any extra money elsewhere. There are many great members here on BP who are tremendous resources of information and will help you greatly. And there are some who are just here to try to sell you something so don't be naive to it. Their true intentions come out eventually.

Be sure to read through the rules of the forums here. How you'll get the most out of BiggerPockets is to understand how to navigate through it and understand that it's a two way street. You'll get out of it what you put into it so become active and help us grow the community and wealth of knowledge that's already here.

If you appreciate a post that a fellow member put up responding to you be sure to say "Thank You!" by casting a vote for it. If you're reading through the forums and a post or response is good or answers another member's question well then cast a vote for it. It's our own version of liking something on Facebook provided you're familiar with that. Simply click the green vote arrow under a person’s avatar on the left of a forum post!

And lastly I highly recommend becoming a Plus or Pro member of the site and take advantage of all that BP has to offer you. It's like getting the keys to the kingdom. It will be one of the best investments you'll make when it comes your real estate investing.

Again welcome to Bigger Pockets!