Newbie Investor in Pittsburgh PA

[Nathanael Sandstrom]

Hi Community! I'm a newbie investor in Pittsburgh and thought I'd introduce myself!

I've had a long and successful career as a business analyst for IT departments primarily in the world of Finance, but I've had a long-standing interest in real estate investing. When I moved to Pittsburgh some 13 years ago from Brooklyn, NY it was with the intention of diving in. Fix and Flip was all the rage at the time and there seemed to be a lot of opportunities and I was eager to go. But within a year of moving, I developed cancer. A brain tumor, but before I had been able to get that under control, I developed a second immune disease, which almost took me down. I was in and out of the hospital for 2 years + and ended up with a bone marrow transplant which saved my life. 

Needless to say, this experience had a huge impact on my life: 1) It derailed my real estate dream; 2) It forced me to reprioritize; 3) It hastened a divorce (the sort of thing that brings you closer together or pushes you farther apart, and well...)

It took me a number of years after all of this to get completely back on my feet, but I've done it, and over the last few years have been finding my way back toward real estate investing. Though it has been slow to gain momentum. I left my job in Finance IT a couple of years ago and took one that got me a little closer, running operations for a small Equity Crowdfunding site for Real Estate.

And then I discovered Bigger Pockets, and I am starting to press the pedal closer to the metal. I expect I'll be posting and following a lot of you on these forums as I try to expand my understand and knowledge, asking for advice, recommendations, and information. I look forward to hearing what all of you have to say and am really looking forward to finding my first deal!

Thanks for having me!

Nate