Walking away from a career in corporate IT

Today, I thought would write about a good friend and former coworker who decided to walk away from a career in corporate IT. We worked together at The Hartford where he caught a ton of bullshit and from people who you would not have expected it from.

He started to dabble in real estate as a side investment for retirement. Walking away from corporate environments took courage but as the interviewing process for him became more burdensome and less rewarding, he made the switch to real estate full time.

In eight years they have acquired 16 properties in the Naugatuck Valley and in New Haven, for a?total of 79 units. They bought almost all the properties with their own money in the name of one LLC, DKRK Properties, named after their children. (One property was purchased a?separate LLC because Kaushal’s sister invested, and another at the request of a?lender when they refinanced.) They’ve stayed away from the higher-end market as well as from poverty housing propped up by federal Section 8?rental subsidies. They have worked well with city inspectors without to date incurring a?single fine or notice of violating the building?code.

Bigger challenges, and more problem-solving, loomed when the couple plunked down the $1.8 million in September 2016 to purchase the pair of brick apartment buildings at 325?–?333 Fountain from Pike.

Kuriakose, whose family moved to the U.S. from India when he was 7, didn’t expect to be spending his days renovating apartments.

I was fortunate enough to get a pep talk from him several months back when he visited a property my son is flipping. The biggest question on my mind is whether I am 100% done with corporate environments and need to get started on real estate. I am very knowledgeable about electrical and plumbing. I previously was an electrician's mate in the United States Coast Guard.

I am giving myself till the end of February to see if I too need to walk away from corporate america and the burden of having to jump through hoops to find my next position.

I wonder if this story can inspire others who are #opentowork to take on similar challenging work even though their backgrounds may not be in real estate.