His current career, according to LinkedIn, is as Senior Partner at Growth Management Group, LLC from 1999 to present.

I am new to Bigger Pockets and looking for opportunities to engage, discuss, and work with others in the field of REI.

I was a college athlete whenever I learned about BiggerPockets and really started my investing career.

Especially as just about every big name on BP has shared various stories of having done exactly that through the stages of there career. 

I would focus on getting a solid job/career then going into a house hack. 

Build a solid foundation before taking a step up - each and every step of the way.There’s a way to scale recklessly and there is a way to scale safely.When OPM is involved safe is way better than reckless.Despite a life long career in RE, I scaled as followsBought a few duplexes for my own accountBought a fourplex for my own accountBought 12 units as a JV with some friendsSyndicated 43 unitsSyndicated 30 unitsBought another 12 units as a JVSyndicated 281 unitsThis was over a 3 or 4 year period.and so forth - now I am GP in close to 1000 units with $125M AUM.Even with all that, my sweet spot is 30 to 50 unit properties - they work best for my partners and I and more importantly our investors. 

Being young will present challenges in a field where experience is highly valued not just with lenders.

If you live in CA, NY, Boston etc - the financial difference is big enough.Investing in your home town is always best, you have the home-field advantage and you can buy, rehab and manage a lot more efficiently.

When you are there, you don't think of it as middle-of-no-where but an exciting place with acres and acres of civil war memories but in fact it's just in the rural PA - fields and forests/game land.

Those are good resources, but what you will find is that most of the closing is learned in the field by connecting with people.A couple of tips:1.