Newbie in O'Fallon, Missouri (near St. Louis)

[Cody Smith]

Hello there!  My name is Cody Smith and I'm a software developer in O'Fallon, MO looking to start my real estate investing journey.  

As far as real estate experience goes, I'm honestly as green as can be.  I have not owned any real estate up to this point and I'm currently renting an apartment with a roommate.  

My primary motivations to jump into real estate is to reach Financial Independence and have greater control over my financial destiny. With REI, I'm aiming to reach FI within 10 years so I can travel, play piano at venues for fun (I'm a total amateur but I'm working on it!), and spend more time with my family and friends.

My first exposure to using REI to reach FI was from listening to Coach Carson and Brandon Turner on the Mad FIentist podcast a about a year ago. Ever since, I've had a little voice in my head egging me on to dig deeper into REI.

However, my goal was to first solidify my financial position by becoming debt-free and have my emergency fund in place. I excitedly reached that goal this year and began listening to the BiggerPockets podcast. I was BLOWN AWAY at all the possible paths and strategies of finding financial freedom via REI!

I am very interested in multi-family units.  One strategy that I would love to start with is a house hack using a multi-family unit, living in one unit while renting out the rest to minimize my living expenses and begin building equity for the next multifamily.  

So now I'm gathering information on how to get my first multi-family unit, looking to connect with like-minded people, and build up a deal funnel.  What better place to do those things than BiggerPockets?

Thanks for reading and I look forward to connecting with you!