Newbie investor from OC starting out on Real Estate adventure.

[Harsh Patel]

Hi Everyone, 

I'm really new to this space (of Real Estate investing) having just started a couple of months ago. We are from the beautiful (but very expensive) Orange County. I am a software engineer with a decent salary but want to get out of the "Rat Race", nevertheless. 

My biggest motivation for doing this is to be able to achieve financial freedom, hopefully within 10 years, so that I can focus on other things without being too preoccupied with money matters all the times. Wife and I want to start and actively support a few charities once we get the ball rolling. 

I'm currently doing a fair bit of studying (reading, listening and watching) in this field as well as actively looking for properties in the Arizona and North Carolina markets. My goal for this year is to purchase at least one rental property with a minimum of 2 units. 

I have realized things could get easily overwhelming so any tips, insights or recommendations are welcome. 

Really excited to meet everyone on this journey!

[Samuel Collier]

My advice is to reach out to local residents wherever you plan on investing if you’re not familiar with the area. I know that in my market in Greensboro, NC, sometimes the difference between attracting quality tenants and having months of vacancy/multiple evictions is only a matter of a few streets over. Take time to research the schools, maybe even type in some surrounding streets on google street view to see what the area looks like. But trustworthy boots on the ground will almost always be your best bet.