New CA investor looking for passive ways to get into real estate

[Patrick Wu]

Hi Bigger Pockets community!  My name is Patrick Wu and I am based in Orange County, CA.  I am a 32 year old who is satisfied with my career but am looking for a way to park my extra income aside so that I can one day have a stable stream of passive income that will allow me to retire early or at least let me take some time off work and travel with my family or spend time doing the things I love doing (my hobbies unfortunately don't pay the bills!).  I love the idea of real estate investing because they are tangible assets that have some tax benefits, but I am a little intimidated (and frankly not totally interested in) the downsides of being a landlord or assembling a real estate team to make deals happen.

Shoot me a reply if you're interested in the same and maybe we can exchange ideas.  I'm looking into investing with crowdfunding real estate sites like crowdstreet.com or realtymogul.com.  I am real curious to see if anyone else has any experience with such sites or any advice on the risks involved.  Regardless, I'm excited to share my experience as it comes with the rest of the Bigger Pockets community!

Thanks and look forward to not only getting advice but eventually giving advice too!