All Forum Posts by: Emily Baker

Hahaha John I just posted on your post as well - commenting on the crazy coincidence. I attended BSSM and have been out here for the last 8 years. I'm definitely going to miss Northern California but I look forward to growing in love with the mid west!

welcome John! I currently live in Redding, California but my husband is from Bluffton IN and we will actually be moving to Fort Wayne this summer! Small world! 

I'm new as well to REI. Just in the learning stage. We plan to buy a multi family unit in Fort Wayne and live in one unit for our first deal and grow from there with rental properties. Also would live to flip houses, but I'm still studying the market to really see what is best there.

I've already started talking to a lot of great people from the Fort Wayne area who are active in investing. I think they've had a few BP meet ups and I know there's an REIA there. It seems like a great, active investment community and everyone is more than willing to help us newbies which is awesome!

I'm sure our paths will cross here in the near future! 

Hi Kolin, thank you so much for the information. My husband and I would love to take you up on the offer when we get to Fort Wayne his summer. I'll be sure to reach out to you at that point. 

thank you Paul. Really appreciate the insight and tips! I definitely plan to connect to the local REIAs and BP meet ups. Currently working on the J Scott books and will check out that other one. 

Thank you so much for all your responses! So good to feel supported by so many active investors and know I won't be alone. 

My husband and I will be moving to Fort Wayne, IN this summer. He's from here and will be opening up a State Farm Agency, so this will become home for us for good. I've yet to pull the trigger with investing but have been doing a lot of research, talking to both seasoned and newbie investors, reading lots of books and listening to pod casts. The realty for my husband and I is that with the big transition of moving from CA to IN, and with him opening the agency mid summer, it will be a little while before I will be in a position to actually buy anything. But, I want to do the research now and be prepared when the season comes. I know I need to hone in on my niche, but I haven't decided yet if my focus will be initially on flipping houses or multi family properties. I think my 'passion' would be more for flipping houses but would love the long term residual of rental properties.

I'm currently reading J Scott's "The Book on Flipping Houses" and LOVE the detailed outline coaching me through each piece. Currently working on determining my "farm area", developing my financial resume, researching what buyers require in the area etc. All new for me considering I'm not from here and its very different from California. 

One of the pieces I'm really curious about is investor friendly real estate agents in the Fort Wayne area. My husband knows of plenty of real estate agents, but not necessarily investor friendly or even investor experienced. I know I will need to find an investor friendly agent to do what I want to do. Any recommendations on either agents you've worked with or how to find them?

Also, would love to hear from local investors on what your biggest tip is for this area? Whether thats a tip on what you've found to make you most successful, or something you've learned through mistakes - I just want to learn from those in the area! I do plan to jump in on any meet-ups when we move here and look forward to meeting you all!

@David FrandsenI do listen to them! Quite frequently actually. They're great. And I have a long reading list of suggested books that I'm starting to chip away at haha. 

Thank you everyone for your responses. Very excited to start connecting with investors on BP. 

Hi,

I've been a member on Bigger Pockets for a little while now but never introduced myself. My name is Emily and I am an aspiring real estate investor, currently in the 'learning season'. My day job is an Executive Business Coordinator which is a fancy way of saying I wear a lot of hats and have my hands on a lot of different projects (which I love). I'm very administrative and thrive in creating efficient systems.

My husband and I currently live in Redding, California but within a year will be moving to his hometown of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Because I'm still heavy in the learning season and we will be leaving CA fairly soon, I plan to invest in Fort Wayne rather than Redding. I want to build passive income through rental properties and eventually get into flipping properties. Our goal is to buy a live-in multi-family unit within the first year of being in Fort Wayne, and build up from there. 

While I'm building our real estate investment business, I actually really want to also be a home stager. I've always loved interior design, but as I've pursued different avenues within that field, I realized I'm much more interested in staging. I used to go to model homes for the fun of it to see how they staged homes. Wondering if there is anyone on here who has built a staging business either as their primary income or while building their real estate business? Would be very interested to talk to you about your experience! 

Lastly, if there is anyone in Redding, CA or Fort Wayne, IN that wants help with administrative details, getting systems in place and creating efficiency within your business, or even help with staging I would love to connect with you! I don't want to wait a year to actually get involved so if I can just get started helping someone else in their business succeed, I would be very excited!