Newbie investor in St. Louis area

[Justin P.]

Hello Bigger Pockets community!

My name is Justin Perosa and I'm actually on the Illinois side of the river in Belleville, IL. The city is just a stones throw away. I've lived in this area for almost 10 years this time around and for a few more years before my adventures in the Army. 

I must say that I am quite blown away, overwhelmed even, by all of the content and contributions here. So many things to read, so much to listen to, and so much to learn. I actually first started looking into real estate investing 10 years ago right when I was getting out of the military. With no education in the subject I had me a plan all worked out. I'd get home from the military and buy me a house (at market value). Then I'd finish the basement and spruce up the place while I live there for a year or two and then put it up for rent and move into the next one, rinse and repeat.

Then life happened... Right in the middle of finishing the basement child number 1 comes along. So work on the basement stalled out for quite a while. After the new life settled in a bit a year or so later I decided to get back on track and get back to work on the basement. Got quite a bit more done....then child number 2 comes along.  Needless to say with family, kids, consumer debt, and progressing my Systems Engineer career I lost my vision somewhere along the way.

Here we are 10 years later and I've got my vision back and it's back with a vengeance. Except this time I am taking the time to educate myself properly, build relationships with the right group of people, and have the finances well on track for successful investing. Good thing I worked hard on that IT career throughout and was able to rid myself of all that junk debt! 

I'm looking to primarily focus on buy and hold investing. I don't plan on pulling the trigger on my first investment property until early next year. So I'm using this time until then to build up my cash reserves a bit more, meet as many people as I can in the local area to build relationships with, and to give myself a thorough education.