20 year old looking for some advice for getting into the REI game

[Blake Ramsey]

Since I was introduced to REI about a year and a half ago I have been indecisive about whether it is something I actually wanted to do or not. I have read a lot of books, blogs, and listened to a lot of podcasts, but I haven't ever had the drive to dig deeper and actually get some industry experience. This year, I finally decided to commit myself to at the very least try my hand in real estate investing and get a taste of what it's like for myself rather than just reading about other people's experiences in books and blogs, even if I fail in the process.

So for context, here's the rundown on my current situation:  I am a 20 year old (almost 21 whoop whoop) who is going to school for engineering at a JuCo for free while working about 30 hours a week with $2k+ in the bank and another ~$2k in stocks and crypto. I still live at home and have no debts or liabilities at this moment. 

An hour ago I sat down and came up with some goals that I have for myself as I begin this (hopefully) long journey ahead of me:

1. GET FREAKIN STARTED ALREADY

2. Wholesale to get capital for a duplex + build connections with investors in the local market (by fall 2022)

3. Buy a duplex (by summer 2023)

4. Build a reliable team to obtain future deals

5. Create a corp and continue to get more rental properties: single family or duplexes (2023-2024)

6. Create a scalable system to find, close, any future deals

These are the goals that I have come up with at the moment and from my research seems like a pretty attainable timeline. Obviously, I have a few questions about... Everything. But I'd also like some feedback on your experiences and how the timeline/order of events compares to mine.

Questions:

1. I am not interested in building a long-term career in wholesaling, just using it as a means to an end to build capital. Is wholesaling worth a shot if I'm just doing it to build capital to invest in rental properties or would it be better to seek out private money? I put wholesaling because I feel like its a good way to get in the industry and create relationships with other investors, title companies, etc. If you have any experience with wholesaling give me a shout!

2. In your experience, when building a team of lenders, realtors, contractors, etc. does it just happen over time or do you actively seek out people in the community? At what point is having a core team vital to your success, I'm assuming you wouldn't really need them if you only had 2 or 3 properties right?

3. At what point do I create a holding company for my properties?

You can answer one of these or all of them, I would just really appreciate any feedback you all could give me! I'm new to this so obviously I don't know what I don't know, so hopefully some of you could let me know what I don't know so I can eventually know what I now do not know. It would also be great to hear a little bit about how some of you got started!