New Investor in Boise, Idaho

[Brian Rossiter]

Greetings to all on BP. I moved to Boise, Idaho, from Fairbanks, Alaska, in January. My current profession is Structural Engineer, working in the building construction industry. I design building structures mainly for residential and commercial projects, although I have completed construction projects in municipal, education, industrial, military, and many other industries. All my life I've been living the middle-class dream: working from paycheck to paycheck and accumulating debts of various kinds. I have no money in the bank, and if I lost my job I would have a very difficult time making ends meet. My goal is to is to make the shift from an employment-based way of living to that of an investor making passive income.

New to real estate, I've only been reading up on the subject for a few weeks now, including many BP blogs and posts. I've also read a couple of Kiyosaki's Rich Dad books and am currently reading Commercial Real Estate Investing For Dummies (I've never been much of one for the Dummies books, but this one seems surprisingly informative).

At present I am working on using my VA Home Loan benefit to get into a 4-unit residential income property. My short-term goal is to have the home pay its own mortgage so I wouldn't have to worry about making the rent if some disaster were to befall me. My long-term goal as an investor is to acquire enough passive income that I don't have to work for money anymore, make my money work for me. I would like to invest mainly in medium-to-large commercial properties for maximum cash flow. I would also, one day down the road, like to construct new commercial projects to increase my assets and passive income (there's also the cool factor that goes along with being a big-time developer).

I like the atmosphere here on BiggerPockets. There seems to be a familial mindset that is beneficial to the budding young investor (I'm 41, actually) in developing skills in a new profession. I am very excited to be making such an important change in my life and am looking forward to being a part of this close-knit community.

[Chris L.]

Hey Brian,
Welcome to BP.
I like to caution every new investor that it is better to miss a deal than to end up with one that you will regret for a very long time. I am firm believer that the new investor should measure twice and cut once.
Bring your questions here and you will find a host of friendly people that will be happy to assist.
Chris