New to Bigger Pockets

[Zakk Miller]

Hello From Arizona! 

I'm 28 years old and currently living in the Phoenix area with plans of relocating to Dallas after my fiance and I get married. Currently, I work as an Area Manager for American Furniture Warehouse, and I have been serving as a Sergeant in the Marine Corps Reserve for the last 8 years. 

I'm very new to the investment world and have had aspirations of building a real estate portfolio after reading several books on the topic and browsing general web discussions for the last couple years. Finally, I've decided I can't just keep reading, rather I must engage with others, network, and ask the questions I have hard times finding answers too....So here I am! When I sell my home in about 18 months I project I'll have about 70-80k in equity and I'd like to invest a good portion of that into real estate/business. My plan is to use Bigger Pockets as a tool to build my knowledge and skills to better prepare myself for when that time comes. 

Excited to be starting this journey! Thank you for any support you can show me along the way. 

-Zakk

[Zakk Miller]

@Jody Sperling thank you for your feedback! I am currently not renting any rooms out (just for personal preference), though I know it's a great tool, my fiance and I have just chosen to enjoy the luxury of our own privacy (I did do this when I was single though). Secondly I have considered refinancing my home and renting it out when I relocate, I'm just on the fence since I'm considering using the equity I'd have to keep in the home to approach other avenues of real estate such as flipping. And yes, I will be able to use my VA loan once I sell my home and fulfill my current loan. You can only use one at a time and you cannot rent the home out.... Unless you use the VA loan to by a multifamily home and live in one of the units, which I am strongly considering when moving to Dallas.