Greetings from Watertown, SD!

[Scott Stone]

Hi BiggerPockets community! My name is Scott, and I'm a newly active real estate investor! I teach high school economics and coach wrestling here in Watertown where I grew up. 

In June I used an FHA loan to close on my first deal, a duplex located just a few short blocks away from the high school where I work which also sits adjacent to Lake Area Technical Institute with an enrollment of around 2600 students.

My journey into real estate investing hilariously began exactly one year ago. While cleaning out my junk email box after work, I stumbled upon an email from a HUD representative advertising a lottery through the Good Neighbors Next Door Program. The property was a 3 bed 2 bath house with a large two stall detached garage which had appraised for $150k. The lottery winner had the opportunity to close on the property if they could qualify for a $75k mortgage and receive the other half of the equity from HUD after occupying the property for three years. Unfortunately my name was drawn second for the backup bid, but the initial loss intensely sparked my curiosity in real estate and eventually led me here to BiggerPockets.

Thanks to the advice from the great folks here at BiggerPockets and some local investors, I continued to work with an agent to write offers for another six months until I eventually acquired my first deal through another investor in an off-list sale. With the other unit covering most of my mortgage payment, I'm excitedly working to finish an online grad school program to boost my income while saving up for a downpayment on a second property. 

So that's my personal story and introduction. For any investors seeking information or with questions regarding the local area, feel free to contact me. After browsing and learning through the countless forum topics here on BiggerPockets, I felt a tad bit guilty for not introducing myself earlier.

Scott Stone