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! 

[Russell Brazil]

Id suggest investing locally, within 50 miles.  Distance adds risk into the equation.  Out of state investing should be reserved for the experienced and those that are much more financially independent due to the higher risk it carries.  Newbies who invest out of the area will generally have bad investment experiences.

There are plenty of opportunities in the DC area and close by.  If you live in this area, and you are a federal employee, you likely make a good income, as incomes are the highest in this region than anywhere else.  We have higher incomes than the NYC metro area, the Bay area, Boston area....and our housing prices arnt anywhere close to as high as those places. When measured against income, DC is one of the most affordable major housing markets in the country, with housing trading at roughly 4-4.5 times the income.