Wanted to introduce myself. I'm Chris. I learned about BP after my wife suggested a book she saw in her offices Audible account, "The Book on Managing Rental Properties." I read it and everything in my world suddenly made sense.

A little (or a lot) back story

My family bought a rental when I came to college. Its where my brother and I lived and rented out while attending ISU. My family lives up in Chicago area and after college my brother moved back there. I settled here and offered to manage the property, but really was running it as a hobby/chore for many years, because I had no idea what I was doing. There was always school, relationships, family, and figuring out what I wanted to do for career that kept my focus elsewhere. I've gotten to a place where I can say I am happy with all of those facets of my life, so I turned my attention back to that rental house. It was supposed to be my break into wealth building... what am I doing with this thing?

My wife, who recently fled retail management for real estate, pointed me to "The Book on Managing Rental Properties." (That is just one of a thousand reasons why she is amazing!) While I listened to the book I realized I've literally done or am still doing everything that book said NOT TO DO. I have since started to slowly turn that around. I downloaded the supplements, registered with Bigger Pockets, started listening to the Podcast, started reading BP and other business books. I am all in. Bigger Pockets is showing me what is possible.

Where I'm at now...

I've gotten that rental house to be a little more profitable and a little less hassle, but there's still some work to do. That has gotten me incredibly motivated. I've talked to my brother and parents and we are incorporating into a real estate investment company, into which we will absorb the college rental. We have plans to raise some capital, so we can pick up a few more rentals. My wife and some of her family are incorporating into a PM, real estate and Investment company as well. I am also part of that company and I am getting my home inspectors license, so we can offer that as a service as well. We have a few clients, but mostly we're still only in the "on paper" stage. I should be debt free by mid 2019, except for my house, (but I bought that as a foreclosure and have a big chunk of equity in it). I have written out and have a clear picture of my goals, long and short term. I think I can hit them through BRRR investing. I would like to pick up a quadplex and get it running as my 2019 goal. I very excited to be here, to learn everything I can about REI and start to grow as an investor.

Newbie in Normal, IL

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