New investor excited to interact with the BP community

[Scott Passman]

Hello everyone,

My name is Scott Passman and I am a new investor based out of Batavia/Geneva, IL.  I just started learning about real estate 4 months ago and I have been hooked ever since!  I have spent every free moment of time reading every real estate book I can get my hands on, listening to BP podcasts and reading through the forums.  Now that I feel I have decent knowledge base I am excited to start meeting other investors and developing relationships to help take me to the next level.

I am 31 years old, married with 2 small kids, and work as a Physical Therapist overseeing a clinic in the west suburbs of Chicago. I am interested in buy-and-hold real estate and would love to employ the BRRRR strategy down the line once I have enough contacts and capital to pull it off. I am really struggling to decide what market I want to start off in with the choices being between my own back yard (suburbs of west Chicago), Madison / Southeast Wisconsin area, or Indianapolis. The Chicago area is a pretty high point of entry plus the problem of people leaving the state faster than any other in the country due to governmental issues. This is acting as a bit of a barrier for me. Indianapolis is almost perfect as it has a lower entry point, growing economy with good deals, but is about 3 1/2 hours away. The Madison / Southeast Wisconsin area is great because it is 2 hours or less away and has a great opportunity for investing as well, although the markets have really heated up recently especially with the announcement of Foxconn building near Racine.

I feel like no matter how much I learn through books, podcasts, forums etc., I will never feel comfortable until I get to see and do things in real life.  My dream scenario would be to meet other investors that I can just talk to in order to bounce ideas and numbers off and have actual discourse.  Not only would I learn more but I would also gain confidence in myself to trust the numbers I come up with and know a good deal when I see one.  As with many people, it would be incredible to potentially form a relationship with someone that could eventually turn into some form of a partnership.  There is no better way to learn than to do something with others more knowledgeable than myself.  So excited to start engaging more with the community!

Scott