Born & Raised in Dallas TX - Mortgage Lender - New to Investing

[Benjamin Mathew]

Howdy there,

My name is Benjamin, and I am brand new to the forums! I've listened to BP for years, and have thoroughly enjoyed learning from Josh and Brandon, along with their plethora of guests - newbies to veterans. I was raised in Carrollton, TX (2000's-2010's), and have seen the crazy growth through the lease of my parents' building their real estate business as agents. I attended The University of Texas at Arlington, where I graduated with a BBA in Management in 2018. After traveling as a consultant for 1.5 years after college - based out of Indianapolis, IN - I moved back to the DFW, and started in a brand new industry at a mortgage lending company. I've been in the industry for a bit over a year now, and am getting my business up and going; I've closed about 20 loans (naturally sources through my realtor partners, family, and friends).

I've been beyond blessed in my time to not accumulate any debt (besides minimal consumer debt), which should work out well for me (in terms of Debt-to-Income), once my sales commissions catch and my business takes off. My credit is in the range of good (700-740). And all-in-all, I'm at a decent position to start my real estate investing this year - which would be a great goal to achieve. 

I process applicants everyday, many of who own their own businesses/properties. I see how they're able to utilize different structures with their businesses to reduce their taxes paid on that income. My goal is not to work until the day I no longer can; I've wanted to own a business for quite sometime and am looking to utilize the forms to better understand how I can develop my idea into a business plan. In due time, I will better understand my strong-points, and likewise what I need to work on.

Besides working as a mortgage loan officer - which is quite time consuming, if you could imagine - I love passing time with my friends/family/significant other, running/exercising/kickboxing, and cooking new dishes (big Tex-Mex guy, and love a good carne asada).

Looking forward to connecting with some like-mind folks in the DFW metroplex and/or folks around the country!!! :)