First Post! New to Real Estate!

[Jess Zavoral]

Hello hello!!! Wanted to take a minute to introduce myself. My name is Jess and I am new to real estate investing! I currently work full time at a Fortune 100 company, but over the last month I've had an incredible epiphany about my life and where it's headed. I stumbled upon the real estate investing world and knew this was going to be the big change for me! I am extremely passionate and driven to make this happen for myself and for my family. I have read a number of real estate books from the BP publishing site, listened to quite a few podcasts, watched a lot of YouTube videos and have been doing a few other various things to gain as much knowledge as possible about investing.

I lived in St. Louis, MO for the past 10 or so years, but I have recently moved to Pensacola, FL. My current goal right now is to break out real estate investing into bite sized pieces so that I can learn a little bit about a lot of things. From the information I have gathered so far, my near term goal is to invest in multifamily properties. If you’re currently investing in multifamily, I’d love to hear where you’re investing, and any tips/tricks you learned along the way!

Fun fact about me is I played college basketball at a Division II school in St. Louis, MO. I am also a massive fan of Tony Robbins and have hired a personal life coach through him that I have had for over 3 years.

Looking forward to collaborating with all of you and I’m very excited to be part of the BP community!

Jess

[Caleb Drake]

Hey Jess, I own two MFH and a couple of SFH as well. I'm an agent in your area and would love to connect! MFH are very low inventory in the Panhandle and a lot of them are in not so great shape. Not sure if you have anyone helping you, but I'd love to be part of your team starting out!

[Barry Ruby]

@Jess Zavoral Congratulations on taking this step. One of the most valuable and important things you can do is to understand the industry vernacular and how it is applied to a real estate asset.

Feel free to DM me and will send a few pro forma snap shots.

I am completing a video that will walk you through the anatomy of a commercial real estate project in the form of a Multifamily value add transaction and send that along as soon as I it’s done.

Wishing you the best success

[Andrew Freed]

@Jess Zavoral - I invest in small multifamily and love the scale. You might as well purchase 3-4 units in one deal as opposed to one with a SFH. I went from 1 unit to 8 in 3 deals due to investing in small residential multifamily properties. I recommend seeing if you have the ability to house hack in your area first, which is how most multifamily investors get started.

I also recommend seeing what wealth you have that can fund your real estate transactions. Do you have equity in your primary that you can tap into via a HELOC or refinance? Can you borrow against your 401k? Understanding how you plan on financing your real estate in the long term is really important. Once you get into your first couple properties, you start running out of funds and unable to scale at the same level you plan on so having a long term strategy on funding your real estate goals is key. It's definitely a frustrating feeling once you get stuck at this point. Personally, I ran out of lines of credit and liquid assets and am planning on partnering with a private money lender to fund my deals moving forward. You could also take the route of becoming an agent or wholesaler to grow your portfolio quicker. Either way, long term planning is very important. Good luck and feel free to reach out with any multifamily related questions.

[Jeff He]

@Jess Zavoral

Welcome! And congrats on taking the first steps towards real estate investing. I currently have a portfolio of multifamily properties. Happy to chat!

[Justin Windham]

@Jess Zavoral

Welcome to Bigger Pockets!

You’ll find plenty of friendly, knowledgeable people willing to respond to your posts.

I really like the alerts feature that can quickly guide you to current topics that may be of interest: http://www.biggerpockets.com/alerts

There are a few self-contained guides that you can access here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/guides

[Ryan Thomson]

Jess I had a similar epiphany a couple years ago. I'm excited for you. House Hacking is a great way to get started. 

If multifamilies were too pricey you could look at house hacking a SFH. Criteria I look for in a SFH house hack: an easy way to split into multiple units, a walk out basement, an ADU, a garage I could convert, or lots of bedrooms.

For resources I really like the following House Hacking episodes on Bigger Pockets Podcast: #352, #252, #350, and #249. Also Craig Curelop's book on House Hacking is also a great resource.

[Jess Zavoral]

Thanks for the responses everyone!! Your input is sincerely appreciated!!!! 

[William Allen]

@Jess Zavoral, welcome to the world of REI! I have lived in Pensacola 4 different times and there are a lot of great investors there. I still invest in the area and we have one dedicated flip going on there right now. I just got back from a Tony Robbins event this week, it was amazing. With that mindset you are setup well for this business!

[John Whitfield]

Hi Jess, and welcome!  I'm living in St. Louis currently, and I've started investing here with small multifamily.  I've only been at it for a year or so, but if you'd like any info or have any questions about the STL market, I'd be happy to connect.  Best of luck to you!

[Taylor Celestin]

Hey Jess! Welcome to the BP community! Like you, my wife and I are just getting started (do not yet own our first STR) but are incredibly passionate about real estate and the freedom it can create for our lives! We've been active on here for only a couple of weeks, and have made many great connections! You can join the BP community in your area and use that to network - and you can connect with both lenders and real estate agents on here who will also help you with your goals! Welcome and best of luck!

[Jess Zavoral]

Thanks @Taylor Celestin for the insight!! Best of luck to you and your wife as well!!

[Kenneth Garrett]

@Jess Zavoral

Congrats on your desire to seek more out of life. I've conducted a number of flips and own a number of rental properties in Illinois. I bought a STR last year in Miramar Beach and it went fantastic. I self manage everything. I'm looking to relocate to the Florida Panhandle in the next year. If your looking for advice pm me and I'd be glad to help.

[Bhekizwe M.]

Hello @Jess Zavoral

Welcome to the BP Community.Sound like you are ready to roll in investing and am looking for to hearing more of the investment journey

I had never heard of a full time investor until reading of Rich Dad's cashflow quadrant and Biggerpockets specifically for real estate.I''m yet to pull down my first deal

Nevertheless, its a career with time needed to spot those bargains and value adds.You get better and better with time and effort applied to sourcing leads, making offers, putting the financing together etc

All the best going forward

[David Windsor]

@Jess Zavoral, 
Big Welcome to the Real Estate World!
Congratulations on taking this important step.

[Julio Gonzalez]

Hi Jess, welcome to the community! 

[Michael Hamby]

Hi Jess,

I would suggest joining the PIG group for local networking and investing education.    There are some decent deals available on the market as far duplexes go in Pensacola.