Hello from the Bay Area

[Chris Penny]

Hello all. I am a 35-year-old engineer from the Bay Area with a cute 2-year-old daughter. I've just started to look into Real Estate investing for about 4 months now as a way to achieve financial freedom. I've been reading and listening to the BP podcast every day. My goal is to get 40 houses when I'm 40, hopefully the cashflow from these houses would get me to early retirement. 

I am focusing on turnkey, multifamily properties, but I would consider SFR as well. I've just decided to buy a new duplex in Edmon, OK which will be finished early next year. This will be my daughter's college funding. However, I still hope to buy one property this year to really get started!

Please feel free to jump in. I hope to learn from everyone! Thank you.

[David Thompson]

Chris,

Laudable goal 40 houses by 40. Alternative strategy, most savvy investors get to about 5-10 SFRs and realize its difficult to scale w/properties all over the country. The paperwork and administration gets to be heavy. I did this. Had 6 SFRs, then small MF and although I was only in to large MSA relatively w/n a two hour driving distance, I quickly learned two things besides the increased burden that was not obtainable w/this strategy. That is, large value add apartments (same concept, folks have to live somewhere) can scale and provide one huge separating concept and that is forced appreciation (unlike SFRs). Forced appreciation simply means that commercial real estate valuation model is quite different from SFRs. If markets slow down, your SFR is going to be worth what a comparable property sold for across the street. With apartments, its based on income. I have much more control to drive value in a more variety of markets. Savvy investors move to commercial and to me the sooner an investor understands that concept the better for them.

I encourage everyone to start where you can, buy a few homes, experience that, but my bet is most will see a better way quickly.  Read below and see a different angle on this.  You can start passively investing if you are accredited and also pursue a hybrid strategy, some active SFRs and some MF passive investments and then let's chat in about 3-5 years and let's see how things are going.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/9145/53820-why...