Hi everyone! Newbie from DC

[Eriko Yoshimaru]

Hi everyone! My name is Eriko Yoshimaru and I just recently joined the BP community. I'm a  newbie to real estate investing but I'm very excited to learn as much as I can from everyone in the BP community and to buy my first investment property in 2019! I currently live in Washington DC with my boyfriend and we both work full time for the government as an engineer and chemist. 

The DC market is out of my budget so I'm looking to invest somewhere else. Ideally I'd like to invest somewhere that is within driving distance from DC (within 4-5 hour drive or so).. this is likely my newbie insecurity but I'd like to be able to get to the property on relatively short notice in case of an emergency.. at least until I gain some experience. I'm interesting in buy-and-hold to generate passive income to help with my goal of early retirement. I'm just starting to learn how to analyze deals and am actively looking for areas with potential (investigating areas in North Carolina and southern part Virginia). I'm doing a lot of listening to podcasts and reading books on real estate investing (starting off with "how to invest in real estate - ultimate beginner's guide to getting started" - thanks Josh and Brandon for a great book :) Also if anyone has a must read book recommendation for a newbie i'm all ears.

I'm excited to connect with everyone and to get some good advice. Thanks for reading my post! 

P.s., if anyone is in the DC area and has advice on investing at a distance I'd love to connect and maybe grab a cup of coffee. Or, even if you're not in the area but wouldn't mind giving some advice, I'd love to connect and pick your brain :) Thanks!