Newbie from Atlanta, Georgia

[Simone Johnson]

Greetings all...

My name is Simone Johnson and I live in Atlanta, but I am from NYC.

I do not have any background in real estate even though it has been something that I wanted to invest in for the past 15 years. I did buy into a guru back in the early 2000's and lost a lot of money. It didn't take away my desire, but fear and getting caught up in life allowed it to go to the back burner.

I am in aviation and I do travel for about 3 days a week and I am ready to redirect my life path at this point. My mom is getting older and I would like to not have to worry about or struggle with her care down the line and I have family members that I would like to care for as well down the line.

I haven't quit honed in on my niche in real estate yet, but I am trying to make the best choice that I can. I am interested in buying and holding property for sure and find myself attracted to commercial real estate. I know that most people want to get into wholesaling and flipping and that interests me too and none of the not so good stories have scared me off. For 2020, I would like to acquire 5-10 properties to keep for rental income. I know that I am new, but I would like to purchase a large plot of land to develop on down the line (small multi unit homes with a storage facility and laundromat to be specific).

I came to BP in a quest for knowledge, partnership and community. I have a mentor who is in franchising and owns multiple businesses and properties. Fear has been the one thing holding me back from multiple opportunities in my life and they have been helping me by motivating me to just move and take action. So here I am.... I have been listening to the podcasts at BP incessantly and need to be online more.

I just applied for my LLC, received a EIN number and now need to open a bank account. I live in ATL and plan to invest here, but have not landed my first investment. I have 770+ credit scores and never purchased a home.

My mentor said that I need to immediately figure out my funding because I need to be ready to move when the opportunity comes as I have been looking at properties, trying to learn the language, getting familiar at the courthouse pulling deeds and finding the banks... I will open a bank account by next week, but just don't know which one yet. I was leaning towards Suntrust because they seem to have the largest lines of credit and I am looking for a bank to build a relationship with.

Any and all advice is welcome.

Thanks for reading my BiggerPockets talk. I am pumped for this journey ahead.

[Bill Hampton]

@Simone Johnson 

welcome to Bigger Pockets. We are here to help. 

You mentioned that you have never owned a home. Your first deal should be buying your own home. Buy something that you can make into a rental. Live in it for a year then move out and make it your first rental. Don't invest through your LLC yet. You will have to make a larger down payment and you will pay a higher interest rate.

You should also join a local real estate investors association for networking and education. Check out GAREIA dot com. They have monthly educational meetings for new investors and landlords. 

Good luck and let me know if you have any questions.