Newbie from Long Island, New York

[Lucas Bernstein]

Hi, folks! My name's Lucas, and I'm new to real estate investing. I hope I've come to the right place! :)

So, a little about me:

I'm a Long Islander, born and raised. I've been working in IT Project Management for a number of years, mainly in the healthcare, telecom, and media sectors. I also have a background in automotive technology.

Being in my 30s, I'd like to be more proactive with my investing. I've invested in the stock market and have done well, but the results pale in comparison to some of the opportunities in real estate, hence why I'm here!

What I'm looking to do and why I'm doing it:

For me, it's all about financial freedom. While I love my job and I love what I do, I'd prefer to be able to generate enough passive income to be able to spend time with my family. I've come to realize that as we age, nothing is more valuable than the time we spend together, and this is especially important to me with regard to my parents. At the same time, I want to start a family and to be the very best dad I can be by being with my kids as much as humanly possible and spending the least amount of time on work. To do this, I don't need to be "rich," I just want to be comfortable with finances.

So, to start off, I've taken the beginner course here at Bigger Pockets. If possible, I'd like to set a goal to purchase my first property this year. Of course, I imagine there's still quite a lot of learning to do, so if that timeframe needs to be pushed back, I'm open to it.

I'm primarily interested in buying and holding small, multi-family properties (2/3/4 units) to get started. Given the rather expensive property values on Long Island, I imagine I will need to venture out to properties within the tri-state area, possibly a bit upstate. Figure about the $150K-$200K ballpark.

Next Steps:

As mentioned, I've started my education path with Bigger Pockets and will continue to read up. Now that I've finished the Beginner Course on here, I have 3 books that I'm going to start. If you recommend any others, or if there are other learning paths that you suggest, please let me know!

Rich Dad Poor Dad, by Robert T. Kiyosaki
The Book on Rental Property Investing, by Brandon Turner (of course! ;))
Financial Freedom with Real Estate Investing, by Michael Blank

And of course, a hearty thank you to all of you who took the time to read this. I'm excited to start this journey with all of you and wish everyone the best of luck as they continue theirs!

~Lucas