Newbie in San Antonio, Texas

[Elizabeth Bourbon]

Greetings, all of y'all in the BPiverse!  I heard Josh, Brandon, and Mindy when they appeared as guests on various old episodes of the Stacking Benjamins podcast and was intrigued enough to start listening to the Bigger Pockets podcast.  I've been a dormant and sporadic listener for some time now, but the little seed planted the very first time I heard you all has taken root!  Initially I just thought real estate investing was something interesting to muse about if I ever win the lottery or get laid off; I didn't think it was possible to learn enough about about where to get started and how to avoid the pitfalls while keeping up with the 24/7ish demands of my work and family.  But you all have convinced me I don't need to quit my day job in order to do this, and I'm feeling much more  confident that I know enough about most of the big hazards to get over my fear of getting started.  I'm now thinking seriously about how real estate investing may help me fulfill my need to diversify out of stocks and create a relatively passive stream of income that will help supplement my retirement and, going forward, help provide long-term for the needs of my adult autistic son.  I look forward to engaging from the forums and learning from you all.  As for what I can bring to the table, I'm an environmental lawyer, so while the rules of ethics (yes, we have them!) won't allow me to provide specific legal advice in the forum context, I'll be happy to do what I can to give general overviews and talk about some of the issues to be aware of in real estate deals.