Getting started from Chattanooga TN

[John-Mark Chesney]

Hello bigger pockets! This is such a great sight, learned so much already!

I'm John-Mark Chesney and I'm a full-time physical therapist and pursuing a part-time job in real estate. I bought a house while I was in PT school in 2004, and had 2 roommates that paid for his mortgage and allowed me to live rent-free. I actually bought the house without a job with my father co-signing with me. And also was able to put 0% down (80% mortgage with a 20% HELOC). Doubt we could do that these days! We sold the house in 2010 and it ended up being a pretty good investment. Now we are looking to get back into real estate in the Chattanooga area.

I want to get into Buy and Hold real estate to maximize cash-flow and to start to develop a rental portfolio. We live in a low income area and are interested in real estate in our neighborhood. Maybe add one to two houses a year or more if we are successful. Our desire is not to “get rich,” but to enable myself to work less sooner so we can live a more “simple life.” Maybe take summer off when kids reach high-school, or something like that. We are really looking forward to networking with others and developing some connections in the Chattanooga area, as we are still rather green as it comes to real estate investing. Thanks!