Jon Acosta

I'm a video producer and tech entrepreneur living in Atlanta, GA My very first experience with "real estate" was back in 2008: At the age of 22, I took the "$7,500 home credit tax incentive package" from the government and bought a condo in Buckhead off of Lenox Road. Biggest mistake of my life. After 2 years, my startup company fell apart, and I had to file for bankruptcy. In retrospect; that was a mistake... Because even after the bankruptcy, I was still responsible for selling my condo (as a short sale, not a foreclosure) And even the bankruptcy couldn't save me from my condo's HOA filing a judgement against me for 11 months of missed payments while I tried to short sale. LESSONS LEARNED: 1) I didn't know I had options. 2) I didn't know I could seller finance the condo (obviously, my realtor wasn't going to tell me that). 3) I didn't know I could lease option the condo on creative terms. MORAL OF THE STORY: It's what I DIDN'T KNOW that screwed me in the end. I finally short sold the condo in 2011. And ever since then, I've been TERRIFIED of real estate. BiggerPockets.com is finally giving me the confidence to turn that mindset around. Thanks to the forums, community support, and INCREDIBLE podcast... I feel like a lethal investment ninja now. Super excited to be a part of this community!