Newbie from Elizabeth, New Jersey

[Avegail T.]

Hello all! My name is Avegail. I'm from Elizabeth, New Jersey. I am just getting started in real estate investing and am interested in partnering up with anyone who is buying and managing small rental properties. As a User Experience Designer, my job is to make websites, apps, and products simple, visually appealing, and user-friendly.

My goal is to buy my first rental property (duplex, triplex, or 4-plex) by August 2018. I would also like to house hack if living in the property chops off 20 minutes of my commute to work. Ultimately I would like to achieve financial independence by 35.

Before the summer, I attended a free real estate guru event and hesitantly signed up for the $2000 weekend seminar. Skeptical about this seminar, my boyfriend did some Google research and found a post on the BiggerPockets forum stating that you can get the education on here for free. I cancelled my reservation and have been listening to the podcasts ever since.

In the past month, I've decided to get serious about taking action. I've been listening to the BiggerPockets podcast on my commute to and from work. I'm on the last chapter of the Ultimate Beginners Guide. I joined my local real estate club about 2 weeks ago and volunteered to redesign their website. I'm working to get the first version of my business plan done within the next week.

I'm currently studying what areas around me are good to buy property in. I'm looking at neighborhoodscout.com but please let me know what strategies you have in analyzing and choosing the areas to invest in.

I look forward to networking with you.

- Avegail