I’ll also look into what the situation is in neighboring counties. Until then I’ll try to move on and look for neglected properties from the seat of my bicycle.

A bit about me: I’ve been reading books and websites, listening to podcasts and attending meeting covering REI for close to three years. I’ve never done anything much about it, just kept reading. I can come up with a million reasons why I’ve been slow to get started, but if you took all those reasons and a quarter, you can make a phone call (if this were 1990). So this blog will instead focus on my progress, or lack thereof, in moving forward and trying to acheive the goals I’ve set for myself.

Maybe I should spend a few words writing about those goals? Maybe the average person will scoff at this, and maybe even the average real estate investor. But I never wanted to be anyone else with any other goals. What I want is to live on my terms. That means living somewhere in the Rocky Mountains during the winters without having to worry about how many hours I’m going to be scheduled to work at $7.25 an hour. It means forwarding all calls to voice mail on days when it snows 10 or more inches, and NEVER breaking that rule. I don’t need a million dollars to do that, but I do need more than $299 in a two week span (ask me how I know that?). That’s about that. To be able to provide for my mother is the #1 goal, to be able to live on my terms during the winters is #2. Period. Beyond that, being able to spend the summers in a location of my choice, most likely Portland, is next.

With that in mind, and in addition to the fact that I’ve never been keen working for someone else, to live for someone else’s sake, making money for another person, I’ve landed here at real estate investing. Other ideas exist, but they require cash that I don’t have right now, so here I am. Let’s see where I can take it.