Members from Hemet, California !

[Stephen Smith]

Hello BiggerPockets community!

We’re Steve and Jordyn Smith residing in Southern California. We’ve been married for six years and are looking to move away from our monotonous lifestyle revolving around work. Our two boys (a two-year-old and two-month-old) are the center of our world and primary motivation for entering the real estate investing business. Our ultimate goal is to work hard on our own terms and be present in our boys lives as they grow up.

I (Steve) have been interested in real estate investing for some time now. I was a real estate appraiser from 2003 to 2008 and house hacked two properties before I was even aware of this investment strategy. Last year, I flipped my first house. While I made a slight profit, I also learned a number of lessons along the way that will guide me in future flips. My wife and I currently have two rental properties and plan to sell our primary residence. Equity from our primary residence will be divided amongst other real estate investments – ideally single-family residences and small multi-family units (using the BRRRR strategy). I am currently a journeyman lineman, which is physically demanding and takes too much time away from my family. The combination of my real estate interest and desire to work less brought me to the BiggerPockets community. Although I've been a member for several years now, I recently got my wife onboard with the idea of real estate investing and, together, we're motivated to act!

I (Jordyn) am much newer to real estate than my husband. Currently, I am getting my real estate license and educating myself on the investment side through books, podcasts and webinars (thank you BiggerPockets for all the wonderful material and suggestions!). I’ve spent the last two years getting my Masters in Forensic Psychology, but after having my second child, I had a change of heart and desired a much less demanding schedule that will allow me to dedicate more time to my family. My husband has been interested in real estate investing for several years and I finally understand why! This inspired me to become more active on BiggerPockets and begin setting short and long-term goals with my husband to expand our real estate portfolio.

Our goal is to invest in an out-of-state market. Right now, we are analyzing a number of cities in various states to help us decide which markets to focus on and where to network. By the end of 2019, we plan to have three buy-and-holds added to our portfolio and develop a team.