Lisa Widdowson

I'm a part-time real estate investor primarily interested in purchasing rental properties to grow my portfolio and plan for retirement. The idea of replacing some of my income and potentially retiring early is freeing to me. I have degrees in both finance and accounting and am a CPA. I got interested in real estate back in college when I learned all of the financial and tax aspects and the difference that leverage and tax benefits can make! I have a full time job as a consultant in the banking industry and I plan to continue that for some time. I came to biggerpockets on the advice of a colleague because I was looking for a spreadsheet to leverage to do my real estate purchase analysis and was happily surprised to see the wealth of information on here. This website has shown me that while I do have a lot of knowledge in real estate, there is always more to learn! I also love getting the real, hands on experience from other investors and the opportunity to network with other folks like me. I live in the DMV area but given the high price of real estate, I'm also interested in the Cleveland, Ohio area. My husband is from that area and I am amazed by the transformation that Cleveland is undergoing. Most importantly