Bad credit, minimal cash and starting over in life . . . Is there hope for me here?

[Argel Algura]

Hey Bigger Pockets community!

It's Argel here, and I had just invested the first 10 years of my entrepreneurial career starting high risk ventures in the tech and finance industries and to spare the details, exposed myself to more risk than I should have and now have to rebuild and start over.

To outline the cards on the table here . . . I have a 580 credit score, a few thousand saved, and currently have a full time job working for a family insurance office and am close to getting my property and casualty insurance license and will soon be licensed to write homeowners and renter's policies.

Skills like raising capital, sourcing/closing deals and underwriting/analysis are no stranger to me, however I am completely new to real estate investing and industry specific strategies and I don't know what I don't know (Bigger Pockets has been my education as of late!).

My big reasons as to why I'm getting into real estate is I feel like my younger years have allowed me to get all the mistakes out of the way by taking as large of risks as possible, and now I'm in a mindset of looking to building wealth through more consistent and dependable ways, and lately life has been nudging me towards insurance and real estate.

Personally, I've got a little under $80K of debt I'd like to pay off, I don't have a family though I've got my sights set for financially preparing me for one in the future, and I know now would be the best time for me to start preparing for that.

Currently being in San Diego, I've also heard mixed opinions about this market, so I'm curious to know thoughts on local vs. out of state investing being where I am.

I've also heard opinions like "If you don't have at least $100k, you shouldn't bother getting started investing into real estate", so the thought of revisiting real estate with more capital has also crossed my mind.

My ideal vision is to be more on the side of acquisition, sourcing and doing the deals, as opposed to property management and renovations side of it.

With that being said, knowing what you know about real estate investing, what are some realistic paths for someone in my shoes? Is there hope? Would love to know your thoughts!

Cheers,

Argel