Introduction - New Investor

[James Holmes]

Hello Everyone,

My name is JT Holmes. I am currently an active duty Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton, living out in Oceanside, CA. Originally from San Marcos, TX I have been loving the Cali weather. 

Back in January I stumbled upon Bigger Pockets after my wife and I bought a condo out here for use as a future rental property. After much research, I realize we bought the property without enough knowledge as to what all goes into a rental property, so that was definitely a huge learning point. Taking advice from Rich Carey, we are currently working to drive down the principal as much as we can to a point we can refinance and make the numbers work. 

Beyond that, my wife and I are semi-actively looking for multi family properties in the central Texas area and are also looking to acquire 1st/2nd position notes sometime in the next couple of months. Right now, we are focusing on soaking up as much information as possible. Mainly from google, but also from books from individuals such as David Greene and  Dave Van Horn. 

My wife, Brittney, is close to finishing her real estate classes in order to register for the California exam. She is excited to get licensed and start work here shortly. 

We look forward to getting further connected with the Bigger Pockets community and the local North San Diego County REIA!

Hope y'all have a great day.

V/r

JT Holmes

[Kris Wong]

Welcome to BP! Just to offer you an opposing opinion - driving down the principle and refinancing is putting a lot of your hard earned cash, that could be used for productive assets, into a bad asset. Cash is king. If you firmly believe in the appreciation in your area, and that you may be able to salvage the deal, maybe you're OK with that. But I recommend you consider what kins of returns you may be missing out on by not cutting your losses and putting your cash elsewhere. Either way, good luck to you!