New member in Rochester, MN, area

[Brent Olson]

Hello all!  My name is Brent Olson and I am a new study to the real estate investing area.  I am a 43 year-old 6th grade teacher and football coach.  I have been teaching for 19 years and have no plans to retire anytime soon, but I am interested in investing in real estate.  

My short term goal is to pay off our credit card and car loan balance and begin to save up enough capital for a down payment on a rental property.  I know that I am not a spring chicken anymore, but we are now at a place that we can pay off all of our debt and begin to accumulate assets.  I hadn't thought about "finances and wealth" much before, but this summer during break, I picked up a copy of Rich Dad, Poor Dad, and it made me realize that I have always purchased things that were liabilities. I don't truly have any assets that will make me money. I have looked at various investments, from the stock market to P2P leanding, to REIT's, etc... Rental properties interest me because I feel that it is a stable investment that is great for a buy and hold investor.

My long term goal is that I'd like to accumulate a portfolio that will allow me to retire early from teaching.  I very much enjoy teaching, but after teaching for 19 years, I'm not sure if I'll make it to my full retirement age of 67!  I will have 43 years into teaching if I make it that long.  I'd also like to supplement my teacher pension just for peace of mind with all of the attacks on pensions nowadays as well.  I've also been investing into a personal 403(b) since I started teaching, and while that is great, I also can't take advantage of that money now while I am "young"!

Currently, I've been learning as much as I can about real estate investing.  I have been reading forums, listening to blogs, reading books, and analyzing properties in my area.  The Rochester, MN, area seems to be a "tough" area for a beginning investor to get into.  I realize I am probably a couple of years away from getting into my first property, but the price range of homes in Rochester makes the numbers very difficult to work out.  I've looked into some turnkey companies as I would definitely have to be a more "hands-off" investor since coaching and teaching prevent me from getting to a property quickly.  Memphis, Indianapolis, Atlanta, etc, all seem like great markets for a turnkey purchase.  I'm thinking that I'd like to get about $30,000 in capital saved up and then purchase a rental in a market like that through a turnkey company for about $22,000 in costs so that I would already have $8,000 in reserve.

Hopefully I can find some great people on this site and I am also interested in any meetings of real estate investors in the Rochester, MN, area so I can do some networking, get advice, and learn the ins-and-outs.  

Football starts next week, so I will be very crunched for time until after Halloween, but I look forward to hearing from all of you.  Thanks for reading this novel!