Noob Looking to Start Investing

[Ryan Valdez]

Hey BP Members,

I am 31 years old with a full time job and have started recently listening to the BP podcasts and have caught the REI bug. I have absolutely zero experience but I have narrowed my niche down to buy and holds and mortgage notes. I sort of fell into REI as I was looking for different ways to invest. I am a civilian contractor stationed in the Middle East and have no primary residence in the States. I am about to close on my first SFR deal just to build equity and help my family with a better living situation. My plan is to pay that off ASAP and get a HELOC to maybe buy a Multi-Family unit. I also just closed on a note through FCI Exchange at a 14% rate. I guess I'm learning as I go. I really don't have a specific area in the U.S. to invest in since I'm halfway around the world. But if I could write off my travelling as business expenses while visiting family in the States, I'd be interested in the Boise to Twin Falls area in Idaho, Pittsburgh and the southern cities in Pennsylvania, and Springfield and the northern cities of Illinois. Any tips on investing remotely would be greatly appreciated.

Happy Investing!

[Megan Hirlehey]

Welcome aboard Ryan! i wish I was smart enough to get into this when I was over there making wayyyy more (tax-free) money than I do now. Oh well. Distance doesn't really matter with investing in my opinion, you're either in your market, or you're not, and if you aren't it doesn't matter how far away you are, the systems are all the same. You just have to set up your systems and you'll be fine. Feel free to reach out to me if you want to talk some more about the Pittsburgh market, I was born and raised here, and now invest here. It's a great market with a ton of potential if you know where to look. Good luck!