Welcome and have fun
In all honesty I'd suggest starting off on a cheaper used bike like a hardtail and learn some good bike skills before moving on to a higher end bike. Take those leftover dollars and invest in some coaching with Endless Biking or someone similar and you will be way further ahead in terms of riding ability with more smiles on your face to boot.
Hello and welcome, thank you for coming to the North Shore I certainly hope you enjoy your time here! It can be mountain bike heaven. There are a great bunch of people and a great community here on the North Shore to get involved with if thats your thing. I would like to second the good advice above. Many of the trails here are literally trying to kill you and have high consequences for getting in too deep too quickly. I started our with a 120mm steel hardtail that I brought over from England and am now three years later on a Norco Range. The hardtail was great at moderating my bravado back down to the reality of my still poor (but improving) skill level.
Not directly related to your query about bike selection but possibly more rewarding that the latest carbon whizz bang machine, would be a suggestion to come out to a few NSMBA public trail days. You'll discover trails you didn't know about, meet a ton of great people, potentially making some new riding buddies and get to hang with living legends like Digger and Old Man Pete. It will also deepen your appreciation of the trails we have here and help to build your trail karma, which has saved my ass many times.
