Bad Idea to Flip First House Entirely from My Savings?

[Scott Le]

I'm in a situation where there is very little banks will give me for leveraging rental homes despite having a good amount of assets and excellent credit because I haven't had any income in 4 years (long story short: I went back to school after my previous career as a professional poker player ended due to the online poker shutdown. I have been unemployed ever since).  I'm trying to turn real estate investing into a career.  Since I have been unable to find a paying job, I have spent the last 8 months as an unpaid intern with a local buy and hold investor and have been soaking up as much knowledge as I can (I also just recently got my sales associate license!). 

Rather than siphon off all my liquid cash into 5 year mortgages on cash flowing rental houses leaving me with nothing more to invest, I've decided the best route for me to go with is to focus on creating quicker returns through flipping. I have been focusing on houses that fit my criteria and where I have enough money in savings to buy the house and rehab it, since my assumption has been it's either that or hard money. I know the obvious disadvantages to using my own money: lower ROI, more downside risk, tying my money up for months. I still have to imagine it's better than paying major points for hard cash.

Is it common/uncommon for first time investors to use 100% of their own cash?  Are there any other options I haven't considered (besides maybe asking family)?    

Thanks.