New Member Introduction (Charlotte, NC)

[Caleb Harmon]

Hey Bigger Pockets fam! I'm a long time podcast listener and decided I need to finally get active. I didn't know where to start so I decided this would be the best place to gather my thoughts. 

I am a native of Charlotte, NC (apparently so rare they call us unicorns) and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a double major in Business Management and Japanese. My mother is Japanese and I grew up going to Japanese school on Saturdays as well as spending my summers in Japan. I ended up starting my career as a Independent Insurance Adjuster for houses when Hurricane Harvey hit Texas and have been in the industry ever since. I work with a lot of contractors and write itemized estimates using insurance industry standard software called Xactimate and Symbility which is a plus when calculating rehab costs. 

I first came in contact with REI when a college friend of mine told me "dude we should invest in buy and hold properties and make passive income" about three years ago. At the time I had no idea what he was talking about and over the next couple of years I would listen to a podcast here and there without grasping the concept. I was also BROKE so buying multiple houses didn't seem realistic at the time. Since then I have been able to save up some money, read real estate books, listen to podcasts, analyze houses, and slowly take steps towards buying that first property. I was recently approved for a 5% down payment loan by my credit union but I think my strategy has maybe started to shift towards the BRRR strategy and buying with all cash but I'm also not sure how realistic that is in my market of Charlotte, NC. Maybe I can use the loan and still BRRR? I'm not sure where to start or who to talk to!! But I know I will eventually figure it out.

Thanks for reading!