First Time/Long Time, newbie-ish from CT

[Karin Crompton]

Hello! So my husband is a sports reporter/columnist, which means I've listened to my share of sports talk radio. I feel like so many of the callers - you know, "first-time caller, long-time listener." That's me ... first-time poster, long-time reader of this and many other sites online.

My current focus is on single-family rehabs in CT with a goal of expanding into buy-and-holds by the end of the next year. I'm also exploring investing in other states, which are SO much more affordable than CT. At the moment I am fairly well educated (boot camp and conference attendee, faithful member of my state's REIA meetings, good researcher) but a little under-experienced, but I'm gaining ground! I own a buy-and-hold in New Hampshire with my family that we use as a vacation rental, and currently have 2 rehab projects under contract. One is scheduled to close in about 2.5 weeks (see my Marketplace post on seeking private funding!), and the other is a short sale in which we are awaiting word from the bank.

I am extremely fortunate in that my business partner is my mother, and we work really well together. She has 32 years' experience as a real estate agent/broker and appraiser and has done some investing along the way; she also helped a husband-wife team of investors to purchase approximately 100 foreclosures about a decade ago. We teamed up a few years ago and got really serious about a year ago. She doesn't want to make the small money on listing properties anymore and I want to make enough money to be able to spend time with my 2-year-old son rather than at a job.

Thanks for checking me out! haha Thanks also to Bigger Pockets for a very useful site; it's so refreshing to see people sharing information and tips without expecting big fees in return. A colleague at my REIA referred your site to me as an alternative to the "gurus" and loan sharks out there.