Greetings from a Newbie Investor in Philly

[Charles Wu]

Hello BP community,

I figure it's about time I introduce myself after a week of lurking.  I'm a 40 year old healthcare professional, currently living and working in South Jersey, but would like to live in Philly, I like the urban lifestyle. Single, no kids, I like hiking, fine dining and music.  I am an intermediate level amateur guitar player, always willing to talk shop about that.

I am interested in getting into REI, and for the past month have been attending various REIA and DIG networking events around philadelphia, as well as learning from all the resources that BP has to offer. The webinars, podcasts and forum posts are amazing.

I have a condo in south jersey that I live in now, and another condo in north jersey that I used to live in, but have been renting out for the past 3 years to cover carrying costs.  I certainly didn't set out to buy that one as an investment property, I just couldn't sell it at the time.  I now realize that it does not cashflow well as an investment, so I'll probably try to sell both and pull some equity out.

As far as my investment strategy, I'm leaning toward buy and hold rentals. I would consider commercial properties as well. I plan for my first acquisition to be a 3-4 unit MFH house hack through the FHA loan program, preferably turnkey or with very minimal renovations needed. My goal is to build my portfolio year by year. When I get to the point of having say $3000 per month in net REI income, I would probably cut back to working part-time. Then, from there, who knows?

Areas of interest: Brewerytown, Fishtown, Point Breeze, Bella Vista, Francisville, Fairmount, Passyunk, Mananyunk, Northern Liberties, West Philly, University City, Mantua, Powellton.   I am also open to other suggestions.  I am still gaining familiarity with the different neighborhoods.

Look forward to meeting everyone.