Josh C - Very Motivated Beginner From Minnesota

[Josh Carlson]

Hey BP people!

So happy to have found this community and excited for the future! I am a big fan of the real estate podcast. 

My name is Josh Carlson. I currently live in beautiful east-central Minnesota where I just bought my first house! I am 31 years old and I am coming into my 10th year running CNC machines. I enjoy machining but I am pretty much maxed out when it comes to hourly pay without going into an office position which doesn't interest me nor seem likely. I desire to do something more challenging and rewarding and I have always dreamed of owning real estate.

I am coming into this journey with newly found ambition after losing over 130 pounds and counting! I have a new view on life and I am more motivated than I have ever been. I am here to learn and gather as much information as I can.

 My ultimate goal is to passively maintain rental properties through retirement, which I understand will take a serious amount of work for decades. But my first step is to pay down some credit cards to get my credit back up. Then, I want to start flipping houses, doing a lot of the work myself. I have helped family flip houses in the past. Just enough to stop living check to check and start putting some away for an eventual rental property investment. These are my focuses right now, starting with working OT until my debt feels more comfortable. My most worrisome part coming into this is the money aspect. I don't have much and I am in a moderate amount of debt (40k) which includes 30k in student loans. Oh, and a spending problem!

I would really appreciate any advice, feedback, warnings, anything you got, I want to hear it. I am all ears and will ask an annoying amount of questions to an open ear.

Excited for the future!

Josh Carlson