Unique New Investor Situation - where to start?

[Mary B.]

Hello Bigger Pockets!

I am excited to be here, and to get started seriously investing. I need a little guidance though on where to start. Here's my situation:

I am a licensed real estate broker, and have sold new construction for developers for the last 13 years. 3 of those 13 years were spent in upper management as a sales and marketing executive, so I have had the great fortune of learning the sales and marketing aspect of the new construction business from both the front lines as well as from the corporate office. My true passion however, is helping customers on the sales floor, and I returned to that capacity two years ago. Due to a project close-out and project start-up both occurring this year, I have a short-term goal to use real estate investing as a way to supplement my income, as there will be a 10 to 12 month gap between my last closing (a.k.a. commission check) at the current project and my first closing at the new project, and a long-term goal of building wealth through REI.

I am familiar with the process of buying and selling real estate, and even purchased my first "investment" property back in 2007, so I'm also comfortable with being a landlord. That investment was not a great one by any stretch of the imagination (the year I bought it should give you some insight here), but it has provided me with an amazing learning experience and thankfully has stayed rented.

My goal for this first year is to generate as much income as I can as quickly as possible. Conventional financing is not an option for me, and I have a very small (almost irrelevant) amount of cash to start with. My initial thought was to jump into wholesaling with both feet, as I think my sales skills would serve me well here and wholesaling seems to be the fastest way to generate cash without using any of your own. But it has been brought to my attention that this may present a conflict of interest because I am licensed, and I certainly do not want to jeopardize my current position that requires me to use my license on a daily basis because I truly enjoy it. So now I am torn as to which strategy to turn to: buy and hold or fix and flip. I understand the benefits of passive income with a buy and hold property, but I am unsure as to how a private investor or hard money lender would make their cut and if this type of investment would even be attractive to them. With a fix and flip, I have heard that it is difficult to resell the properties within the first 6 months of acquiring them because of new lending regulations (it is difficult for potential buyers to get financing on the property if you have held title for less than 6 months), which of course limits the turnaround time and potential ROI.

Because of my tenure in the new construction industry, I have a large network of potential team members (general contractors, estimators, licensed trades, conventional mortgage loan officers, property managers, title companies, etc.) that can be assembled quickly, but do not have any non-conventional financing options readily available. I also only have a very loose business plan that I've drafted, which is really nothing more than my financial goals and a few ideas on how to get there, that I know needs to be improved and refined.

I have been reading and listening to as much content on REI as I can for the past few months (thank you BP!), and recently joined my local property investors association (which so far seems more like a marketplace for businesses related to REI to advertise their services than a true networking group, but I have only been to 2 meetings so am continuing to give it a chance). I am ready to take action, but need a little help with the following:

1. I obviously need a mentor but have experienced difficulty in finding one to date. Suggestions?

2. I my know I need to create a proforma, but have never done so and don't know where to start. Suggestions?

3. Should I explore non-conventional financing options or find a good property first?

4. Based on the information about my situation above, which strategy should I focus on first?

5. Should I create a business entity (S-corp or LLC) from which to operate my real estate investing before I get started?

6. What am I forgetting?

7. What else can I do to stay focused and not get overwhelmed?

I have about a million other questions floating around my head, but this will help me at least focus on my next step. Thank you in advance to all that take the time to comment - I'm looking forward to hearing back from you. Have an excellent day!