Newbie from Hagerstown Maryland

[Jessica Dreisonstok]

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)