New Philadelphia Investor

[Jovan Ellis]

Hi everyone!

Ok, so I picked a crazy time to get into real estate.

I'm a new investor in the Philadelphia area, at the tail-end of my first flip in South Philly (and it has been An Experience™). I'm with the Free Library and my background is mostly in multimedia design and education, but I stumbled into real estate on the side two years ago. Since then, I've been loving it! I'm also a big fan of the BP podcast and a member of our local REIA.

My goal is to eventually get into rentals and work toward community-oriented real estate development. Being a longtime resident of the city, I've seen it change in a lot of great ways and in a lot of unfortunate ways. Currently finding the balance between designing unique rehabs that preserve the rich neighborhood culture and... actually getting houses sold. 

Looking forward to meeting more of you and being part of the community!

[Jovan Ellis]

Thanks for the warm welcome, all! And @Louise Cornell, I definitely agree with regard to the interesting changes. Last year I went to Philly's REIA expo and sat in on a session led by Ryan Spak that really inspired the direction I want to take my company. He talked about social impact real estate development and how you can involve the community when building in a neighborhood. From investing in / showcasing murals to repurposing recycled materials from a demo to build out community gardens, there are ways to promote goodwill and neighborly respect during rehabs and that's something I'd like to see more of.