Newbie Intro from NY

[Adam Suskin]

Hi BP, I'm Adam. I currently rent in Manhattan, where I work as a software engineer. I am brand new to REI and have been spending a lot of my time reading and listening to various BP forum threads, blog posts, and podcasts. Other than that, I generally consider myself a quick learner and tech-savvy, and I'm super grateful to all of you for having tons of knowledge available to soak up.

Fortunately, I have saved up quite a bit of money to be able to invest. Unfortunately, I'm at the pre-first deal jitters phase where I'm a little fearful to take the leap. I know there's still a bunch I can learn, and I'm definitely concerned about the knowledge that I don't even know exists.

My 2020 goal is to have a greater-than-zero passive income stream. I am pleased with my full-time job and would like to start building out a real estate portfolio on the side. It seems many people here advocate for a first-timer's deal to be a flip or house hack, but NYC seems super un-affordable for that, so I'd be interested in hearing other opinions on what other first-timer options are out there! I'd feel comfortable investing in Atlanta (where I'm originally from), but am also game for any ideas if the numbers make sense!