New member from West Michigan

[Monique H.]

Hello all,

I am a newbie and I have been interested in real estate investing for a while and decided that I need to get more serious about it! I do not want to be hindered by analysis paralysis.

I live west of Grand Rapids, Michigan and my husband and I are interested in buy-and-hold properties. We're currently saving for a down-payment or cash buy and are open to single or multi-family homes. We are feeling a bit cautious going into debt (we followed Dave Ramsey to get out of debt); however, we believe real estate will be a great investment.

I'm excited to read and learn from this community!

[Jay Kadlec]

I went through the Dave Ramsey program two times, once when I was a teenage and once later on with my wife. There are definitely great things in there but overall he is extremely conservative. I believe following his teaching to the letter should be for people coming back from bad financial habits/ bad debt/ bankruptcy. I recommend (as others did) searching out other resources as well. Obviously there are Biggerpockets podcasts but I also suggest Robert Kiyosaki (as I read others have), Grant Cardone (polar opposite of Dave Ramsey I feel), and Zig Zigglar. Grant Cardone is much more aggressive than Dave Ramsey - I tend to find myself somewhere in the middle of them both. Zig is more of a motivational speaker/ salesman but he is one of the greats that both Grant Cardone and Dave Ramsey have drawn inspiration from. 

All that to say don't worry about straying away from Ramsey. He has some sound principles but could hinder your growth with how conservative he is. At the end of the day too his business is telling people to buy his business (sells insurance and real estate).

Sounds like you're on the right path though and remember at some point you need to got for it and buy! Best of luck to you!