Newbie from Enterprise, Alabama

[Paul Ball]

Hello Everyone, my name is Paul Ball, yes it rhymes and no my parents don't hate me. I stumbled upon bigger pockets through a basic Google search. I have been a member of the Bigger Pockets Community for almost a year now, primarily lurking in the shadows though. I have been a lurker for a few reasons: primarily because of the overwhelming information that is available in the community. The other reason is I found it extremely difficult to juggle educating myself on real estate while attending Army Flight School training. As my flight school training is winding down, I find myself with a little extra time to delve into real estate.

A brief little background on me: I am 30 years old, originally from Portland, OR but currently stationed at and living on Fort Rucker, AL for Army Flight school. I have been in the Army for almost eight years. I have been married for over seven years and we have one dog named Roxanne. Lastly, my favorite thing to do is snowboard, which is extremely difficult in southern Alabama.

The method of investing that I believe currently suits me best is the buy and hold strategy. I intend to use my VA loan to acquire my first couple properties and eventually I would like to move to the BRRRR strategy.

Now that the introduction is complete I would like to verbalize my current plan to receive any and all feedback. I am attempting to locate, purchase, and subsequently occupy a single-family home here in Enterprise, AL. I am currently on orders to South Korea and will be leaving the country towards the end of July. However, my wife will be staying behind to finish her Bachelor's degree and then catching up with me in Korea. When she joins me in Korea the single-family home she occupied would then become our first rental property and we would then use the VA loan again to purchase a new home, preferably a multifamily property when the Army relocates me back to the Continental United States approximately three years later.

I look forward to meeting and networking with new people here and am excited to pursue the wild and crazy adventure that is real estate investing.

Paul

[Paul Ball]

@Chace Fraser Thank you for your support!  

At first, I wanted to do multifamily but any of the multifamily properties for sale I found in the area needed basically a complete remodel. Multifamily is also very hard to come by, but it did cross my mind.

It seems like you and I are on the same page when it comes to this financial strategy. I am able to qualify without my wife on my loan, I'm actually already preapproved. My wife is a full-time student right now and doesn't have a W2 income right now if she did we would be using her FHA loan right now and save mine for later. But since she doesn't we are gonna reverse that order, unless I am able to refi out of my VA loan when I get back from Korea.

Just from the basic research, I have done and the listening to the BP podcast I was able to determine that real estate investing is definitely a long term planning strategy and when making decisions you need to think a could years down the road, not just the immediate future.

I appreciate the feedback you have provided and look forward to further conversations with you.

@Clint Shelley Thank you for your support! I appreciate your feedback and I will be sure to look up and reach out to Rob Beene, thank you.

@James Wise Thank you very much!