new from Pittsburgh - (finally) ready to get started!

[Tracy Montarti]

Hi all,
I'm Tracy, I'm originally from CA but now live in Pittsburgh. Family is still in CA. I came to Pittsburgh for graduate school (Carnegie Mellon and Duquesne) b/c they had Peace Corps fellowships and I was just getting out of the Peace Corps at the time. Grad school was the probably the worst financial decision I ever made! I started out with no debt and ended up with student loans and was only making $30K at my job after all was said and done. And the kicker is that I'm not even using my degrees.

I'm a SAHM, but I'm also a biz owner... first an incorporated biz related to the job I had before I had kids and now I'm a high-end custom baby/children's photographer. But I only take about 4-6 clients at the most per month since I only want to do it part time at this point.

I love doing that and will continue to do it, but I've been interested in real estate investing for many many years and have done lots of reading but was never in a position to actually do it (or at least I thought)... everything else took precedence. I also took an urban development course in grad school and had to come up with pro formas and everything for a larger apartment building with first floor retail. It KILLS me to know how much money I could have been making over the last 17 years since I was first considering to buy a condo in college and rent out the rooms.

The nice thing about Pittsburgh is that the prices are reasonable and we don't seem to be experiencing as much of a dip in the housing market as some other areas. Granted, prices don't appreciate as fast here, but I fully believe you can still make money.

I'm still learning, but I'm primarily interested in small multifamily units and bank owned... to hold or sell would depend on the property. I also would like to purchase a 2-3 story commercial building in one of our cute business districts and use part of it as a boutique for my studio and rent out the rest.

I do go to CA to visit family and I have some photography clients there as well, so who knows... maybe at some point I can get something out there too, or at the very least get my parents to get something.

It turns out that my grandparents (94 years old) used to flip houses... they said they'd buy it, "gingerbread it" and sell it quick... like in a month or at the most 2. I just loved their term of "gingerbreading it" - just basically paint, carpet, some landscaping, flowerboxes, etc.

I'm still reading and digesting this site and I'm so glad to have found it! THANK YOU ALL for sharing your expertise and advice.