Hello! Newbie in Seattle

[Jessica M]

Hello everybody! My name is Jessica.

A bit about me: I'm in my mid 20's and currently self employed. My business has allowed me to increase my income dramatically from a few years ago, but feels very unstable in the long term. I've always been interested in real estate so I'd like to invest in order to diversify my income stream and slowly transition out of my current market (fashion/online sales).

I don't have any hands on experience with real estate investing yet. I used to work at a mortgage company back in 2004, and I also used to be a notary specializing in loan signing docs. So I suppose I have a little bit more knowledge than the average Joe.

My long term goal is to buy and hold rental properties for monthly cashflow. Actually... my real long term goal is to never go back to working for "the man". I enjoy the freedom that self employment brings. I enjoy working hard and having unlimited potential and I see real estate as a natural next step for me. I found Bigger Pockets by researching wholesaling, I'm considering this as a shorter term plan to help build my income/savings faster.

I'm looking forward to gleaning pearls of wisdom from everybody here, I will probably just be lurking for now!

[Bill Gulley]

Jessica, if you paid it off and it was just a few years ago, like three, you might be surprised as credit issues arising from unforseen medical issues is a quickly forgivable sin. You may just need to write a letter of explanation and explain the situation. I made many loans in the secondary to people in similar circumstances, so don't give up or assume you can't. See a good mortgage broker, or maybe your old lender where you worked.

Trsut me, you have a great advanatge, especially if you can remember the people who walked in and got financing from you!