Starting Out Crossroads

[John Baldwin]

I have reached a crossroads and I understand it may be a rather subjective issue. I am a newbie (as is obvious from the forum chosen) and have been weighing the options for me to start actively investing in. I have talked with other REI professionals in my area and hope that the sage wisdom of the BP forums will further help me decide. You guys really are awesome.

So here is the dilemma.

I have narrowed my starting options down to flipping or buy & hold. I have gone back and forth on this; sometimes even in the same discussion. The logic is as follows:

A) Flip - Potentially easier to attract private money due to shorter term of investment. 

- Familiarity with requirements due to past experience with construction and having done one flip before many years ago.

- Provides seed capital for Buy & Hold

B) Buy and Hold - Easy transaction to "complete" to build track record faster

- Provides seed capital for future flip/B&H projects through equity and/or incomes

Basically it comes down to the better avenue to set myself up for. Given my experience I am comfortable with either avenue personally. I just don't know which would be more effective towards future progress. Is a deal just a deal or is, in your experiences, one type more preferable for Private Investors to take advantage of.

Thanks in advance for the help and advice!

[Pat Parrillo]

I agree it comes down to what you are trying to accomplish. Create capital through a flip or create passive income through buy and hold. If you are looking to reinvest the capital from the flip into a buy and hold then it may be more worth the experience starting where you want to end - buy and hold. You can learn the ins and outs right out of the gates of buy and hold and landlording and can get creative if you don't have the capital up front, another learning experience. Both are great options depending on your goals.