From VA > MA > NY, Hello Bigger Pockets community

[Jon Kamantigue]

Hello, my name is Jon Kamantigue and I wanted to say hello and introduce myself the the BiggerPockets community.

I purchased my first property in 2003 for myself in the Northern Virginia suburbs when the market was booming. This place was a dump!!! I over exaggerate but I rehabbed the condo over 3 years while living it it just because I was handy. I loved renovations and took my time. My job at the time was an hour commute in the DC area and I sudden became fed up with my commute and felt it was time to sell my property. After some final sprucing, I put it on the market and 4 hours later I got 2 offers and made 150K off the property. I thought "Real estate was is!!!"

That led me to my second property in 2006, luxury hi rise condo one mile from work. I thought I was the ****!! But I found out it wasn't my commute that I hated, it was my job. I decided to change career into Photography. I moved to MA to got to photography school but what was I going to do with my condo? Corporate housing was my answer. I decided to rent my property furnished with utilities included as a corporate housing alternative. I mean there was a grocery store on the condominium property that was a good incentive for potential tenants. It started good at first and I found good tenants, but when the market crash, I was having a difficult time finding tenants that could cover all the cost associated. By this time I was living in NY. I managed it poorly with the help of my parents and realized being a landlord was very difficult. Now I thought "Real Estate is hard, and I'm an artist". I was questioning my decision making skills. I eventually found a tenant that stayed for 5 years but the rent was still not cash flowing like I wanted it to. Frustrated, I sold the property last year off emotion and I nearly burned thru all the capitol gains because I also quit my job.

There had to be more in life. I re-centered myself during this time, developed new goals and now I am working as a freelance photographer living in Brooklyn. These last 3 month I've since my photography business really grow but its still not enough. I had 2 issues, (1) I wanted my own photo studio that I could work in and (2) I need to save more for retirement. My answer, you guessed it, Real Estate. I'm going to Rich Dad education now and I'm taking control over a property that my mom owns because she's going to give me 30K kickback on top of the discounted FMV. Not what I hoped to be my first deal in RE Investing but its a start.

I'm hoping to get to know more of this community especially around the Northern Virginia area. I come down from NY frequently to get away and I want to start in this market because I know it more than NY. NY can be intimidating. 

Thanks for your time everyone.

-Jon Kamantigue-

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