My Name is Juan Medina and Here is My Introduction

[Juan Medina]

My introduction to BiggerPockets has been long overdue. Originally, it was postponed due to my ignorance on the subject of real estate investing. Later, it was again postponed due to fear of appearing foolish for having such ambitious goals with no experience to show. But after months of taking a back seat, listening to the BiggerPockets podcast religiously, reading countless books, and digesting every piece of information the blog posts had to offer, here is my formal introduction.

My name is Juan Medina. I am currently a Civil Engineer working in New York City. I am part of a team which is responsible for the construction management and design of several multi-million dollar bridge construction projects. With my previous employer, I gained significant experience estimating cost and managing building rehabilitation construction projects.

I am also founder and president of a startup company by the name of SolarLeaves Energy, LLC, a solar energy company, which I plan to make the top solar installer in New York within the next five years, and one of the top installers in the country in ten years.

Like many of you, I do not enjoy working a nine-to-five job. A couple of years back, I decided to change that, and that is how I came across BiggerPockets.

Before and after digesting so much of your information and the many resources referenced, I was able to formulate the following plan:

• 1.Improve Personal Finance: My goal was to decrease my expenditure to 70% of my income, and invest the rest. I am currently living on 75% of my income and well on my way to reach my goal of 70% within the next couple of months.
• 2.Improve Credit Score: By monitoring my credit and strategically charging some of my existing expenses to credit cards, which I paid in full at the end of the month, I was able to increase my credit score from high-500’s to mid-700’s in almost three years.
• 3.Buy a Duplex: I chose a duplex as my first investment because as many of you already know, it would reduce my living expenses significantly. However, finding a duplex within my budget was very difficult in Long Island, so I changed my strategy to a single-family house with a potential mother-daughter layout. I am proud to say I have recently signed the contract for such a property.
• 4.Long-Term Investment Plan: Along with my partner, we plan to buy 25-units a year of properties 5-units or more every year. We plan to achieve this through private financing.
• Currently we are in the process of market research to identify some of the best available markets.
• Next, we will reach out to real estate agents and property managers in that area to get a better understanding of the market.
• If all is well, we will write a brief business plan, which we will present to investors.
• Afterwards, we will commence the property search.

My ultimate goal is financial freedom, and I believe I will accomplish this within the next five years.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, I look forward to continue learning from your experiences, and contribute experiences of my own. Any information you would like to share, please do not hesitate to do so.

Sincerely,

Juan Medina

[Cody Evans]

@Juan Medina

Congratulations on joining BP. I have been on these forums for 13 days now and my mind has been blown. As much as you may want to read books; make sure you read and post on these forums at least once every 2 days. My simplistic, idealistic view has been burst multiple times in addition to my planned path being shifted. You are an engineer and probably have a good income so you have less worry about getting hurt financially due to a bad investment but for me my focus has gone from out of state(my area is pricey) to investing at home using a technique that utilizes house hacking with an FHA 203 loan so I don't have to put much of my own money down. Your path is probably much different than mine due to income difference but make sure you keep in touch with these forums and ask a question before you go and spend money on something.