Better late than never?

[Clayton Bownds]

Greetings and salutations!

A friend and former colleague suggested BiggerPockets as an early resource in beginning a more active path in real estate investing. I suppose I've been living under the proverbial "rock" for not knowing about this ecosystem of information, tools, and people with similar focus toward their professional endeavors.

I work in the tech sector of corporate America for a manufacturer. I spent most of my 20's on active duty in the US military and made my first home purchase during that time. When I regained my civilian status, I moved back to Texas (where I am originally from) and hired a property management company to lease my military home. This was my first toe-dip into real estate as an investment. I was uneducated and wasn't executing against a plan. It all just happened organically to solve a problem... I needed to move and couldn't afford a mortgage and rent elsewhere. I'm grateful for that ironic exposure because it planted a seed in my mind that wouldn't really germinate until I was a bit older and more mature. After a couple of years, I was able to sell that property for a nice profit... which nurtured the seed. 

I didn't invest in real estate again for a few more years until I had the sudden and terrifying realization that I'd fumbled along for over a decade since getting out of school without so much as a drop of retirement planning, investment, or savings. I'm not gonna lie... it was very uncomfortable to simultaneously feel so foolish while also experiencing a twinge of panic. I didn't really know where to start, so I just did. I opened an SDIRA and began to slowly (read: painfully) build it through passive real estate investment. Most of the investments were trust deed investments where I was a small fish swimming in a larger school, but they returned 8 to 10 percent and, naive or not, felt relatively safe to me.

I have made some foolish mistakes trying to build wealth over my career (*cough* oil and gas *cough*), but I am grateful for them all. I would much rather learn from the mistakes of others than my own mistakes (it's certainly less expensive), but sometimes failing and adjusting is needed to grow. As I type this brief introduction, I'm committed to put in the effort to develop the requisite skills to become a successful real estate investor, but feel like I have more questions that answers. I'm listening to podcasts, reading everything I can get my hands on, and actively seeking the ah-ha moment that illuminates some solid ground to take that action step. 

While it may be premature to drive a stake in the ground... because I don't know what I don't know... my current interest/focus area is in multifamily investing. I'm about a month or so out from 48, so getting to "my number" in residual cashflow is obviously important to me, but I'm also fascinated by the potential repositioning has on building net wealth. I'm accredited and have a very small amount of cash set aside to begin as soon as I find my footing. I feel like I haven't even scratched the scratch yet, but I'm excited to be on this journey... and this seems to be a great community of folks all rowing the same direction.

I look forward to meeting and perhaps partnering with many future-friends here... and sincerely appreciate everything you do, whether you know it or not, to help me along this journey toward financial freedom. 

Kind regards,
Clayton