Rookie Investor in Madison, Wisconsin

[Jonathan Allen]

Hello! My name is Jonathan, and my increasingly voracious reading about real estate investing led me inevitably to Bigger Pockets (originally through coachcarson.com, I think). So, here I am, getting off the bench where I've been observing, and stepping towards the game!

My wife and I live in Madison, WI, which is where we are interested in investing. We love the area, and are interested in helping it to thrive. We have been long-time renters, and have been looking towards purchasing a primary residence when I stumbled upon a Coach Carson article about house hacking, which got me really excited.

It's a strong seller's market right now in Madison, so we have kind of been biding our time while saving up. In the meantime, I'm trying to learn more about the market, and investing in general, so that when things cool off a little, I'm ready to buy. Would love to find a small multifamily and live in one unit, and then look for buy and hold rentals after that. I guess that's one thing I'm hoping to figure out while here, whether it's wise to wait out a seller's market, or if it's better to get in early becuase you can't predict the future.

But, for now, I know there's a ton to learn and people to meet and help.

[Marcus Auerbach]

Hi @Jonathan Allen, welcome to BP and congratulations to your plan. House hacking is IMO the best way to get started, not only for the financials, but because you can test the water and if it's not the thing for you a duplex is always easy to sell. While you should be able to live almost for free - in Madison you will probably have to chip in a couple hundred bucks to cover the mortgage in a quality neighborhood - you will learn the basics you can build upon. BP is great, but nothing will teach you like doing it in the real world. It puts everything in perspective. The best advice I can give you from here is find a Realtor who is also an investor and owns at least 5-10 doors. That agent will be able to connect you with most other people you need on your team and has a very different view than agents who dont understand investing (which is most of us). This will be a major shortcut to a good investment and will protect you against buying the wrong deal. Good luck!