Here's the Sitch.

So, in my last post, I talked about how I was in a little bit of a unique situation and I want to talk a little bit about that now. My current situation has two parts: 1) I can't move from where I currently live, and 2) I'm going to be moving in about 9 months.

I can't move right now because my wife works as an on-site property manager of a really nice 107 unit apartment complex in Orem, where I live. This is both a blessing and a curse. It's a huge blessing because we live rent, utility, and all other property related expense free. She also gets paid an awesome salary and in combination with my salary, we have been able to save several tens of thousands of dollars over the past year.

I should take some time to say that we have allocated a lot of this money already into an emergency savings account and an IRA, so we're just barely at the point where we're saving every extra dime for investing and buying a house (or live-in investment property) So that's the good side.

The curse of it all is that because we have to live on-site, we can't ever qualify for any of the owner-occupant financing because we won't ever have any intention to move in to any property we might buy. I've looked a lot at investing in 4-plexes and I really like the owner-occupant model for starting out, but it just isn't an option right now. And those blessings and that curse is one side of my situation.

The other side is that we're planning on moving to the Washington DC area as soon as I graduate. I have a very promising (although not fully guaranteed) job opportunity in Jessup, MD and we hope to move there around on the Maryland side of the D.C. Metro area. Since I'm moving, I'm hesitant to buy any property at the moment in the Utah Valley because I don;t want to live 2000 miles away, especially not for my first property.

So that's my situation. It's far from bleak, but I do feel a little frustrated because I feel like I'm playing a waiting game. The good side is that we've got 9 solid months to save a lot more money. I know that money only opens doors in real estate and having more of it will make breaking in to the DC market a little easier, especially considering the fairly high property values.

I was just listening to a podcast today (I think it was show 84) that was talking about a guy who was a "bird dog" for some wealth investor where he lived. I understand this to mean he basically works for an investor as a commissioned wholesaler and gets paid a small amount for each property he finds the investor that is a good deal. This was very interesting to me and I'd love to find someone in my area willing to let me work for them in that capacity.

I like this plan, because I am able to get all the experience I need in finding good deals and analyzing properties. This is the part I have no experience in. I have of course read a lot about it and even made some of my own spreadsheets, but I know there's noting like doing it for real. Also, working with another investor would be helpful in gaining valuable experience in the trenches with someone who knows exactly what a good deal looks like.

I am going to start looking here to find someone who is willing to work with me in this capacity. I hope I can find someone soon!