Recovering ex-rental owner from Mountain View, CA

[Nicholas Z.]

Hi everyone,

After months of lurking, searching through the forum for information on things I've been learning, reading books, and listening to the Bigger Pockets podcast, I've finally taken the leap into real estate!

I like to say I'm actually a recovered real estate investor. My go-around ten years ago was unpleasant (two evicted tenants in a row, each took six months) so I've been working up the courage to jump back in. I had to stop working as a software engineer several years ago due to health issues, and that had me scared that I couldn't afford to "risk" real estate. After researching, I feel like I'd be a lot better off financially had I looked at real estate when my health challenge started rather than waiting (and having my cash just sitting around doing nothing).

I decided to invest in a property a few years ago, just for diversification purposes (details) and now I'm looking into buying my first rental (turnkey, as my health makes doing all the legwork a little challenging). I'd like to get into BRRRRs and flips eventually, but in the short term, I think the best way for me to get started is as a private lender. Once my health improves, I'd like to move into doing BRRRRs and flips directly.

Ultimately, my goal is to replace all of the income I made as a software engineer with income from real estate.

I've found so much value in the Bigger Pockets books, podcasts, and forums, that I'm excited to get started meeting everyone and learning even more.