Joe DiMaggio, Founder

Born and raised in Baltimore, Joe left the corporate world in 1987 to become a full-time real estate investor. He buys, sells, and holds single- and multi-family dwellings. He’s a hard money lender, too, who not only provides funding but shares knowledge.

In the 1980s, Joe founded the organization that eventually became Baltimore REIA.  Over the years, Joe and the association have proudly served the real estate investor community in the highest ethical and professional manner.

Katheryn McGill, Savvy Women Investors Meeting (SWIM) Co-Moderator

Katheryn is a full-time real estate investor and active rehabber since 2015. She has completed several renovation projects in Baltimore City and surrounding counties, and has showcased her love of the transformation process as evidenced by her company slogan, “restoring value, exceeding expectations.”

Katheryn sets her projects apart from the competition through her keen understanding of function and aesthetics for buyers in today’s market. She also offers design consultation and home staging services for other investors, and she operates both long- and short-term rentals.

Janet Tonkins, Savvy Women Investors Meeting (SWIM) Co-Moderator and "Real Estate Rental Cash Machine" Class Instructor 

“The Cashflow Diva” is a 35-year retiree of Verizon Communications and president of A*R*T* Enterprises, LLC, a family-owned real estate venture named to honor her deceased mother, mother-in-law, and aunt.

Janet has bought, sold and rehabbed over 100 homes and apartment buildings, and managed over $20 million dollars in investment properties in Baltimore, MD; Paterson, NJ; and Jacksonville, FL. She moderates the monthly women’s meeting for Baltimore REIA.

Michelle Yang, Landlording Strategies Meeting Co-Moderator 

Michelle has always been a “people person.” She earned Associate Degrees in English and Tourism in her hometown of Beijing, China. After coming to the U.S. in 1997, she got a degree and a job in computer science, but soon she and her husband enrolled in a local real estate school, and her investing career took off.

Michelle believes that building long-term residual income is the way to financial freedom. While growing her portfolio, she has found her new passion in property management. Her stringent screening procedures improve cashflow by reducing turnovers and evictions. Today Michelle, and her husband have bought, rehabbed, sold, and managed millions of dollars’ worth of real estate. Next step: apartment complexes.

Mary Jo Whelan, Landlording Strategies Meeting Co-Moderator

Mary Jo is a property manager for others and an experienced buy-and-hold investor in her own right. She buys properties at a discount… knows how to get the most for her money when rehabbing properties to rent… and generates exceptional cashflow from each property. She is past President of the National Association of Residential Property Managers.

Donny Testerman, Harford Meetup Co-Moderator

Donny is an electrical contractor with his own business for 33 years. He does everything from change light bulbs to full building and house rewiring. He has a huge client list and does a lot of investor and real estate work. He's been investing in real estate since 2000 and done everything from wholesaling to buy-and-hold to rehabs. He also helped start a weekly investing group that meets every week and is now teamed up with Baltimore REIA for our Harford Meetup. 

Gary Kenner, Strategies Harford Meeting Co-Moderator and "Fund Your Deals Now" Class Instructor 

Gary has spent his entire career in real estate, including a business degree in real estate development and a 30-year corporate career managing over $1 billion in assets. He has completed more than 1,500 deals, and since 2008 has focused on his own investments, with a diverse portfolio in four states.

Gary continues to complete 60 to 100 deals a year. He is a multi-family landlord, hard money lender, commercial loan broker, and licensed realtor. Today he primarily focuses on large deals for mobile home communities, and on rehabbing single-family homes for sale or rental. His mission is to provide affordable housing and financial services.

Jack Kiley, IRA Strategies Meeting Moderator 

Both a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a Certified IRA Services Professional (CISP), Jack is an entrepreneur, financial planner, real estate investor, and partner in MidAtlantic IRA, LLC. He brings to the table over 25 years of experience in public accounting, with extensive knowledge in developing tax, retirement, and financial planning strategies.

Jack feels strongly about his clients’ having the ability to self-direct their retirement. He speaks in plain English about complex concepts, such as the scenarios for real estate purchases, mortgages, leases, and other cash flows that the IRS allows in an individual retirement plan.

Jeff Cohen, CPA, MST, “Smart Tax Strategies” Class Instructor

Jeff has over 20 years of public accounting experience and a Masters in Taxation from the University of Baltimore. He’s a member of the Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants and is on their Nonprofit Tax Committee. He also serves on the board of several local charitable organizations. He is now with Katz|Cohen, LLC.

Shane Bloyer and Joe Hartman, “Wholesaling for Fast Cash” Class Instructors

Shane Bloyer and Joe Hartman, along with their spouses, are owners of Perry Hall Investment Group and have worked together since 2005. They’ve developed proven processes for finding wholesale properties and have settled on hundreds of them over the past several years.  

Joe and Shane enjoy sharing what they’ve learned and helping to make wholesaling a legitimate part of the real estate investing world.

Nicheole Amundsen, “Passive Cashflow for Life” Multifamily Investing Instructor

Nicheole has acquired thousands of units spread out over 11 states during her 25-year career. Like a lot of people she started with single-family properties. Her one regret? She wishes she had invested in multifamily from the beginning!

Mimmo La Marra, Social Media Director

Before moving to the U.S., Mimmo was a realtor and rehabber in Italy.  He works full-time as an IT security engineer and has been wholesaling and rehabbing properties part-time since 2013.  Mimmo joined Baltimore REIA in REIA in 2013 and stepped up to become Social Media Director in 2014.

Ike Opaigbeogu, South Meetup
Co-Moderator

With five years of corporate finance experience, and now a real estate agent, Ike has transitioned his career towards empowering investors to realize their long-term financial objectives through real estate. He has successfully managed short, mid-term, and long-term rentals, and personally hosted over 50 international Airbnb guests.  Ike is an active host of his own investor meetup, where he cultivates collaboration and seeds opportunities for future projects.