Newbie Charlotte, NC

[Michael Baldinger]

Hello BP!  New member here just getting started in Charlotte, NC.

I work as an optometrist in Charlotte, and live in Matthews, NC.  I have a friend in town who is an agent, has been a contractor and is also an investor...he also happens to be a BP member.  He was the first to get me interested in RE.  I have also had by random chance a few other people mention Bigger Pockets over the last year or so.  I checked it out and got even more interested. 

So where I'm at now is trying to get my finances in good order. I currently max out my 401k and have an IRA setup for my wife and myself that I max out yearly. I finished paying off my student loans at the end of 2017 which were rather substantial. I just finished paying off my car and am working at paying off my wife's van. The only other debt is a home equity line of credit that I used on some of the student loans because they were higher interest.

Now that I am getting the debt part under control I don't want 100% invested in the stock market.  It seems that real estate is a fantastic place to invest for some diversification.  right now I am trying to learn all that I can.  I'm reading on BP, listening to the podcasts, purchased a few of the suggested books, and am trying to meet with some investors in town.

My goal for 2018 is to make my first real estate investment.  I am considering single family or a duplex.  It depends on what kind of deals I can find and what direction my conversations with those more experienced leads me.

Open to any suggestions on debt reduction vs investment as far as which should I concentrate on first.  Of course I plan to do both but do I attack the debt completely before investing,  try to do a bit of both at the same time, leave debt for now since the investment would be at a higher positive percentage compared to the negative percentage with the debt.   Hmmm decisions decisions. 

Anyway thats who I am and where I'm at.  Looking forward to many great discussions going forward.

Thanks again to BP for being so damn awesome!