wannabe with a dilemma

[Byron Maddox]

Hi there. I've been reading and soaking up a ton of info from BP on a daily basis. I'm reading the books, listening to the podcasts, scouring the forums and I am or was getting excited about starting a career in real estate. I know I have a huge amount of learning to do and probably won't be prepared for any of it until I dive in head first. Now for my dilemma. I'm an overseas contractor working 4 months on and 4 months off in the Middle East. When I'm home I have no income coming in. This job pays enough to carry me while home until it's time for me to redeploy. I really can't afford to leave this type of work at this time. Working for someone or some company back in the states cannot replace the income I'm making now but I do see REI as being a financial alternative if given enough time. Hence my dilemma. I'm fairly certain I know the answer to my problem and I'm not sure if I'm looking for an answer here or if I'm just venting my frustration. I want to hit the ground running when I do get home in a few months and jump into this but like I said, when I'm home I have zero income coming in. I've looked at multiple properties listed here and from other sources that I think would be a good investment for flipping but I don't see that I have enough time while home to purchase, rehab and sell before I have to pull the trigger and make a decision to stay and continue real estate or head back overseas for my umpteenth time. Again, I guess I'm not looking for someone to give me a solution to this as I don't see there being one until I can find a career back home and grow a portfolio in time.

[Aaron Mazzrillo]

I wouldn't focus my energy on buy and hold if I were in your situation. Probably wouldn't want to be doing any flipping either, but, and I mean a big old Sir-Mix-a-Lot big BUT, I would consider it IF I had a very trustworthy agent who could supervise the contractor. You want an agent that knows what and only what needs to be done in order to sell houses. You might even consider paying said agent an additional 1% or 5-10% of the net after it closes. 

I think in your 4 months downtime, you could certainly do some driving for dollars and direct marketing and bag a few wholesale deals. You have the calls go to a Google voice number so if any residual leads come in while your back at the beach without an ocean you can still do some follow up. 

Unless of course, you're one of those contractors that is out on an oil platform. I knew a guy that did that and then spent his 4 months down time in Thailand. He made big bucks on the rig and lived well below what he would spend back in the states. Seemed like a great gig for a single guy.

And this is my 2,000th post and apparently 250th time I've been the first person to respond to a thread. Cool.