Hello from Burlington, Iowa

[Chris Lee]

Hey everyone. I’m completely new to BP and to real estate investment but since reading Rich Dad Poor Dad, which was loaned to me by a coworker who was just starting out in real estate investing and seeing some success in the field, I decided it was worth looking into. I had first heard of this site from reading the Mr. Money Mustache blog (which I love, but I’m no Mustachian). When my coworker also suggested I check it out, I decided I better log on. So here I am. For about a week now I’ve been voraciously reading blog posts here and listening to as many podcast episodes as I can. 

About me: I’m a conservationist by trade with a Bachelors degree in wildlife biology. My dad was a union carpenter and I learned a fair bit about construction from him. Back in high school, my grandpa had a dozen or so mostly low-rent rentals that he’d pay me to fix up every time a tenant bailed on a months rent leaving a path of rented home destruction in their wake. He always extolled the virtues of rentals, I grew to hate them. But then again, I never saw the profit in them as I hauled out debris for $9/hour. Looking back, and knowing what I now know, I get it. 

From there, I put myself through college working for various contractors part time and over the summers. Since then I’ve done various remodels/improvements to two homes I’ve owned, three that my in-laws owned, and helped my dad rebuild his house from the ground up after losing the home I grew up in to a fire. Hard and frustrating as the work can sometimes be, I really do love carpentry/home improvement/remodeling. So I suppose my primary interest in this real estate stuff is a desire to scratch that renovation itch and turn a profit in the process. I’m still not sold on owning rentals, mostly because I don’t want to deal with tenant issues. But I may come around on that. For now my interest - should I fully commit to heading down this rabbit hole - would be in fixing and flipping. 

What’s holding me back? Two things, knowledge and time. The knowledge shortfall I’ll somewhat remedy by reading and chatting with the community here. I’m also reaching out to some locals that have RE investing experience to glean their insights and maybe “ride along” with them on some flips so I can learn the ropes before fully committing. 

The time issue, though, is my biggest hang up. I have a 1 and 4 year old that I don’t like being away from if I can help it. They’re growing up fast. I also have no plans to quit my job. It’s a great job with great benefits (it’s a government job after all), I love the work (most of the time) and I run the department. On top of that, I have no debt except for my house (thanks MMM) and I’m contributing to conventional investments (Roth IRAs, mutual funds, a small stock portfolio) so I’m going to be set for retirement. 

But...I would love to put my love of home renovation to good use to knock down some extra capital to use for family vacations, non-Mustachian purchases, etc. in the short term (I’m 20-25 years from retirement eligibility). Who wants to wait for retirement, anyway?

So that’s the fence I’m sitting on currently. I look forward to chatting with the community here and I have to say I really appreciate what all the contributors have done to make this site what it is. I’ve only just scratched the surface and I’m overwhelmed by the amount of info this site provides.

Cheers,

Chris Lee