Howdy! From a newbie in San Antonio, Texas

[Josiah Sia]

Howdy y'all. My name is Josiah Sia and I'm from San Antonio Texas! #texaspride

I have absolutely 0 background in REI but I'm a quick learner, got a sharp mind, and am a sponge for information. A Texas sized sponge, so that's quite a bit of capacity!

I'm currently a manager for an IT department and I looovvee my job. (No sarcasm, I really do) I've been in the IT business for 10+ years and it's always been a passion. I graduated with a BA in Business and have multiple certificates in the IT field.

My ultimate goal with why I want to get into REI is to be financially free. Isn't that everyone's goal? I would like to have the extra income from REI to pay off our house and cars early. We would also like this venture to provide us the opportunity to retire early, LIVE a financially free life and travel the world. I know that sounds cliche, but that's the plan.

Much of my research in this field started when I was looking into day trading actually. Then one thing led to another and I stumbled across a post talking about REITS. More digging down the rabbit hole and that led to REI. Even more digging and a couple dozen reddit, forum and YT videos later I stumble across biggerpockets.com.

Of course, I did my research about this place first! The information on YT by their staff and CEO is legit, honest and helpful. Y'alls books have top marks in Audible and Kindle too. Since this place looks like an honest place to get started, I decided to sign up and get with the program!

My plan right now is to get through the Beginners Guide on this site, attend the upcoming 2 webinars, read REI for Dummies, and watch the Financial Independence Blueprint videos I've signed up for. Let's get it!

Hope to stumble across many more nuggets of info here to help achieve my goals and make some great connections!

[Rick Pozos]

Hey @Josiah Sia, IT managers make a pretty good living, right? Before investing in real estate or day trading or whatever, you probably need to get your income and expenses in order. Whatever amount of money you make, the only way you will have extra money for investments is to live on WAY less than you make. 

When you live on less, you CAN pay off your house and cars without investments paying for them. You should be able to do it out of your current income. San Antonio has a very low cost of living and IT managers make quite a bit of money. Spend wisely my friend!!