Newbie from Birmingham, Alabama

[Scott Starkey]

Hi Bigger Pockets Community!! I’m a new investor and have been reading the forums for a few months. I just finished my first podcast on “18 houses in the first 18 months”, and I was absolutely blown away at the useful information. A little about my background: I have an engineering degree and law degree. My career has taken a winding road through working as an engineer and then as a lawyer. I then transitioned into a Security Director for a large corporation. My college roommate started investing down in Savannah, and my family and I go to one of his beach properties to stay for vacation. This year, over a few beers, he helped me get a basic understanding of what he does and how he does it. I then (being the nerdy type) read every book I could get my hands on. Then, I printed the list of recommended books from this forum. Fast forward a few months, after doing kind exhausting numbers crunching I found a deal that looked very promising. So, I have closed on an 8 Unit apartment complex and 2 duplexes last Wednesday. My college roommate advised me to not “dip my toe” into real estate investing; rather, in his words “dive head first into the deep end”. Well, I followed his advice. Now, I am excited, scared to death, exhilarated, and trembling with fear; all at the same time. I like the “rocket ship” analogy from the podcast talking about how hard it is to get off the ground on the first deal. Hopefully, I can make this work. The biggest issue I have is the tenants are used to a “hands off” and “pay when you can” type landlord. I am trying very hard to correct that. The Landlording on Autopilot book has been a big help. Any useful information that y’all give would be much appreciated. I love to learn from folks that have done this successfully like all the good people on this forum.