New Investor from TX, Hi BP

[Luke Medina]

Hi BP friends,

My name is Luke and I wanted to say hello to everyone here and tell you about myself. Stumbled upon this sight a few months back but I've been slowly but steadily trying to learn the world of REI by reading books, listening to podcasts, scouring forums, even as far as volunteering for Habitat on house builds on the weekends. I've been in the IT space for more than 15 years and I'm looking to finally take action and make money work for me and not the other way around.

I recently just finished reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad and The Millionaire Real Estate Investor and I'm even more convinced that this is where I want to take my life's direction towards. Full disclosure though this will not be my first venture into RE, but I did lose everything in the 2008 crash including a home and condo. Must have really drawn the short straw as it happened to be in Las Vegas too which as many know was one of the hardest areas hit by that crisis. I would like to say I've picked up a few pebbles of wisdom with that chapter in my life and I can actually smile now looking hindsight. 

Ever since that time though I have adopted a minimalist lifestyle and I'm proud to say that now I have absolutely zero debt and am able to comfortably live off of about 25% of my income and saving the rest. 

After reading many posts here and among the books that I have read, I think I want to go the Buy, Renovate, Hold route on a 4plex to start out, but since I'm currently renting too why not house hack as well. My plan is to also self manage to get my feet wet and have hands on experience since I'm still new to all this. 

A big road-block though I have is my bankruptcy record which won't go away till January 2019 so I'm pretty sure that will take a big hit when I try to get loans prior. If I wait that long though to make a purchase I believe I will have saved about 115-125k to spend for my first investment.

I'm sure many more things can be said but that's enough about me. Before I forget I now live in Austin so if anyone is in this is area or San Antonio that would like to connect or share some insights into these markets please feel free to reach out I am very eager to learn and meet other like minded investors. 

Thanks for making all the way down here.

Luke

[Michael Guzik]

@Luke Medina Hey Luke welcome to BP brother! I'm glad to see you on here and proud of you for continuing to look into real estate even after that loss in 2008. Just from what I hear finding a plex in Austin is not the easiest thing to do. Austin is flaming hot and the prices are sky rocketing. San Antonio is about 7-10 years behind Austin so it is much more affordable. However finding a 4 plex is pretty difficult. Finding a plex in a decent side of town is pretty difficult to be honest, by the time they hit the market they are usually already over priced and do not fit the 1% rule. In either market I would suggest finding one that is off market and can be rehabbed so you can force appreciation, unless you want to purchase turn key which is expensive but theoretically takes all the stress away from you. Just make sure you run the numbers, and do your due diligence on the property and the people you will be working with!!! It may be a good deal but if you have bad people on your team for the transaction it can go south very fast. If you are ever here in SA feel free to give me a shout and we can meet up and drive around the city and I'll show you the areas and sides of town! Good luck man and keep doing what you are doing my friend you are on the right track!