(Newbie) Looking to Invest for the first time

[Joslynne McCay]

Hello Bigger Pockets community! My name is Joslynne, I am 23 years old and looking to invest in real estate for the first time here in Reno, NV! As with most newbies I am very excited and yet hesitant at the idea of playing around with such high amounts of money. I have always just been a saver, working longer hours and saving whats left of my income after bills and taxes. However, I no longer want to work my life away instead I have set a goal to be financially independent within 4 years through BBBR properties and rental investments.

I have invested the past two months to watching podcasts and reading a multitude of investment books, in doing so I have become very confident in most of the concepts including analyzing deals, using equity to fund future deals, property management, ect.; However, I am very uncomfortable and inexperienced with how to approach banks  for the initial mortgage loan as well as how to re-approach a bank when I am ready to refinance a property. In case you couldn't tell, the money part is the most daunting concept for me to grasp! A huge part of my under confidence stems from the fact that I feel I have a lot going against me  from a loan officers perspective, I am young, my yearly salary is just barely over 25,000, I still owe 12,000 on my current vehicle, and I have about 14,000 dollars in school loans (all in good standings though). 

I am reaching out to the bigger pockets community in hopes that there is someone out there who started out in the same boat as I am currently. My goal is to obtain a higher level of confidence by collecting advice and stories of how others have been able to successfully jump into the real estate pool! Any and all responses are greatly appreciated!

Thank you so much for your time,

Joslynne N. McCay