New investor & member from Houston, TX

[Thomas Hendrix]

My name is Tom Hendrix. I'm a transplant to Texas from California (and before that Hawaii and before that Pennsylvania). I've moved around a lot and so have never taken much interest in real estate; I don't even own a primary residence, being a life long renter.

At the moment I'm finishing up a two year assignment in Thailand and will be moving back to Houston in October. I have a full time job with an industrial engineered products firm. It's not passion-inspiring, but it pays the bills and I work with decent folks.

As I mention in my profile, I'd like to begin investing in real estate when I get back to Houston. I've done a lot of reading and research (offline and online) which is how I came across BiggerPockets. I've enjoyed and learned a lot from the content here and my plan is to find some more specific information about real estate investing in Houston and communicate with people in that area so that I am able to hit the ground running when I get home.

I am interested in a buy and hold strategy with single family residences and small (2-4 unit) multi-family properties. My intention is to start with a single property financed with my own capital and a conventional mortgage which I'll manage myself. I figure that'll be a good basic test to see if I have the chops for REI or if I even like it before I start trying to get too fancy.

I am approaching REI with a long term perspective and assuming I'm successful enough at it and enjoy it enough to progress, I'd eventually like to amass a large enough portfolio to make managing and developing it a full time endeavor.