Real Estate Investor Artist?

[Austyn Victoria]

Hey BiggerPockets! 

I am an artist, photographer and traveler, born in WA raised in FL, traveled to 13 countries competing in a sport called Flowboarding and landed in Ogden, UT 2 years ago because of my sport.

I've decided to stay in one spot for a while and I'm looking for my first home in Salt Lake City to house hack! I currently live in an apartment in Ogden, commuting to SLC for work and attending BP Podcast University ;)

Occupation: Artist, Office Manager at Dezember Photography, Painting Instructor at The Paint Mixer

Goal: Financial freedom! One property every 2 years, buy and hold

Strategies I'm interested in: BRRRR, House Hacking, Long Distance RE investing (because the Utah market is insane)

Hobbies: Surfing, flowboarding, travel, art, recycling, DIY, creative problem solving, snowboarding, being outside - basically I'm a hippie with an entrepreneurial mind

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This is not my first introduction to real estate. In college I had a friend who managed rentals with the family business. I worked for her painting rooms, absorbing knowledge and still not taking action because it never occurred to me that I could and SHOULD do it on my own. I'm 27 now and although I regret not getting started sooner, something she said that always comes back to me is "If you're not growing you're dying." So here I am, ready to grow after dying for a few years.

I've convinced my boyfriend of the benefits of buying now vs. renting with the low interest rates and we are partnering to be able to afford more than we would on our own. I've been through the entire buying process on a condo individually that fell through the day before closing because of miscommunication between the seller and lender. Now working together we have put offers on a few duplexes but got outbid, and the numbers are very tight in SLC- not many things make sense cash flow wise. But I'm determined to make something work! We have offers on a few places, one of which we would rent out rooms to make the mortgage more affordable. We are stoked on the whole process and would love to connect with others who have the same idea!!