20 y/o Rough business plan - constructively criticize me!

[Konrad Utterback]

Hi everyone,

I'm relatively new to bigger pockets and the world of REI in general. I'm going to lay out a very rough short-term business plan/set of goals, and would love your input! Please let me know if I'm missing key steps, or am misguided. Apologies in advance if this post is a bit wordy.

I'm 20 years old, and about to start my junior year of college. I have 0 debt, and about ~$8k liquid from various side hustles and internships. 

In the short term, I'm going to finish college with a psychology degree, and probably move to Seattle (where my family is) or LA (where I go to school). For a while, I thought I really wanted to house hack when I get out of school and start my investing career that way, but given that I'll almost certainly be living in LA or Seattle, this isn't really going to be an option for me... I simply wouldn't be able to find a duplex/triplex in any area where I would be willing to live for a price that I would be able to put 3.5% down on. 

With that realization, I decided to set a goal of buying my first deal before I graduate, and preferably in the next year. My parents are really behind the idea and offered to put ~$10k into the deal (probably as a personal loan to help with a down payment/rehab costs). I also have some wealthy friends, one of whom is a big deal in WA commercial real estate and would likely be willing to be a private lender on the deal, although I haven't approached him about it yet because I want to make sure I fully know my stuff first. 

So, my plan is to form an LLC (question: does it matter which state this is in? Should it be where I live, where the property will be, or Delaware?), find a SFR in the $40-50k post-rehab price range, make sure I have a bit of equity, do light rehab, rent, and refinance into a 30-year mortgage to get my private lenders out of the deal. Basically, BRRRR. Some markets that I find interesting are Kansas City MO, St. Louis MO, and Baton Rouge LA, although I've also looked at Cleveland and Houston.

I ultimately want to get into multifamily, but I think it makes more sense to start with a SFR as a sort of proof of concept, and to increase my likelihood of being able to get private funding.

Thoughts? Please let me know what you would do differently, or if there is something you would add. 

[Ryan Evans]

I'm a big proponent of taking risks and learning while you're young. On my first deal, I paid 25k for a duplex out of state and learned an incredible amount. If I screwed it up and lost it all that's only 25k at the end of the day. Not much in the overall scheme of things. I'm guessing you paid much more in tuition. Not to mention you can lose $25k pretty easy in a market like Seattle (my local market) if you're off by only a few percent! 

In regards to SFR vs Multi and getting private funding, I'd think more investors would be keen on investing in multi. If you have a vacancy in a duplex, it's somewhat safe to assume you can at least keep one side filled that should hopefully at least cover your debt service.

If I could go back to being 20 I would be much more intentional with getting my credit score up quickly. If you're going to be looking at borrowing a good chunk of money in a couple years, it's going to be a big factor so keep it in mind.