Hello! From Beautiful Castle Rock, Colorado!

[AJ Weigand]

Hi fellow Bigger Pocket'ers!

My name is AJ Weigand, I'm from western Pennsylvania originally but have been residing here in Colorado for the past 3 years! Started out in Colorado Springs, but am now residing in Castle Rock, Colorado, an almost perfect middle distance between the Springs and metro Denver. I'm a West Virginia University graduate, with a masters in sports administration from the University of Northern Colorado (as you may have guessed -- that is the excuse reason I am living here in this amazing state). I currently work for a small non-profit in Denver that you've probably never heard of, named Mount Saint Vincent. I'm a development & event coordinator there, and I absolutely love the work that I'm doing.

I'm a newbie to the Bigger Pockets podcast and Bigger Pockets Money podcast, however they have been a lifesaver for my hour-plus commute into north Denver every morning! The personalities and information is so engaging and wonderful that I actually look forward to my time stuck in traffic each morning & evening! I really commend you all on the work you do! Thank you!!

I want to become active on this forum because my parents have a family owned renovations company, and my extended-family is full of people involved in the construction field. My folks did a few house-flips too, but I never really got a good sense as to how they did it. They're close to retiring now, and are strongly considering scaling down their business and jumping into real estate as a retirement "job"/income supplement. I actually shared episode 276 with Bryce Stewart with them, and they LOVED it. It was a really inspiring hour of content for them as it was for me. Clean the truck has been a term we all frequently say thanks to Bryce.

I just finished 283 with Paul Thompson and his huge point was to LEARN! That finally pushed me to join the forum. So my goal for joining is to become more knowledgeable on the the real estate process, to be able to compare notes with my parents and, hey, maybe one day join them in the journey to financial independence! 

So anyway, hi to everyone! Any advice you'd have for a newbie? I gotta say -- I'm excited to figure out what my "niche" will be BUT... I'm scared of the potential negative financial part of real estate... How the heck do people with student loans and full time jobs get financed to buy a six figure house to rent out?? Hopefully with time, I'll have my fears tamed, and I'll be able to completely dive in. But for now, i'm going to clean the truck and learn as much as I can!

Sorry for the long winded post, but I'm just so excited to be hear and learn from you all! Thanks for your time!!

AJ