All Forum Posts by: Jessica Dreisonstok

@Ben Miller Thanks for the welcome. Its so neat to see another REI from our little town on here. We moved to Smithsburg about 3 years ago from Frederick and just love it here!

@Nathan Renner Thank you for the welcome! Was Steve Cavanaugh this month? It sounds like it was a worthwhile meeting. I will definitely be looking forward to next months meeting. It's nice that a little city like Hagerstown has such an active REIA.

@Beth L.  I certainly understand wanting to stay out of the city limits. I have a friend that invests in the city primarily with section 8. The cash flow sounds great but she tells me the requirements/tenant issues can be a headache. I like the Robinwood area myself and am in that area often--hopefully the roadwork is completed soon.

@Christina R. Thanks for the tip! I am really excited to go to my first meeting. Frederick seems to be booming again, I lived there for years and its crazy to see how much its grown!

@Mike Webb That sounds good. It seems like we have very similar goals. I would love to get together and discuss strategy.

@James Wise  Thank you for the warm welcome! I am very excited to start this new chapter in my investing career. I look forward to "seeing you around" the site.

@Paul Timmins  It definitely seems to be a great time to start investing in our area. What is your strategy? What areas will you be targeting? Frederick being such a hot market seems great for flips, while Hagerstown seems like a good buy & hold area.

Do either of you (Beth, Cliff) belong to the Hub City REIA? I've heard other investors mention that it is a great place for networking. I am hoping to check out next months meeting.

Hello All,

My name is Jessica and I am from the Hagerstown/Frederick Maryland area. I have been a bigger pockets member for quite some time but, finally feel ready to jump in!

I have been in the insurance industry for the last ten years but, my real passion is real estate. I have been "attending" what I like to call my own "Real Estate University" for the last year, reading books, attending seminars and of course reading all these great posts on BP.  I feel like I have finally "graduated" and am really ready to get some hands on experience.

I have a strong marketing background so I feel like wholesaling would be a great niche to begin with. I must admit I am a little bit nervous to go that route, due to the bad rep that it seems many new wholesalers get. Any thoughts on how to overcome the bad "newbie wholesaler rep" would be very much appreciated. Also any tips on what strong qualities you look for in a wholesaler (if you work with them)?

I should say that I've partnered with a home inspector/former appraiser to help evaluate properties, which I feel is a huge value add. I've done a lot of research on calculating ARV/construction costs but, I feel a second set of experienced eyes will help tremendously when evaluating deals.

I  also do plan on eventually taking on some flips of my own in the near future as well.

Sorry for the long post but, I am very excited about finally moving past the education only phase and in to actively investing! I look forward to getting to know everyone (and continuing to learn here on the site)