Looking to make my first purchase

[Jeff Moe]

Hey all, love the site and the podcast etc. 

I am looking to get into REI and am trying to find the best avenue possible.

- I have 200k in home equity that I could leverage into a max of 140k in a HELOC(approved already)

- 100k in trust/retirement funds

- 40k in a brokerage account

-15k in cash

I am in the Portland, OR market, which has been very hot and is hard to get return on rentals(around .5% per month). Should i be looking into other markets( I like the Jacksonville, FL market a bit)? I don't want to overextend my leverage and abuse my HELOC but also don't feel like I have enough to start out with outside of that.

Should I use my HELOC to oversee a few flips to build up my equitable assets before I look to buy and hold?

[James Canoy]

I would consider findings a seasoned partner. You have enough money and equity to bring something to the table. You could hit up Joe Fairliss who has his own podcast or any other syndication expert. I would choose that person based on whether they would be able to answer a bunch of newbie questions as you are just starting out. 

You WILL want a mentor. It's repeated over and over in the podcasts. If you bring money and a willingness to work you'll have people clamoring to help you. So, look up people on Biggerpockets in your area and start asking questions. They will have access to deal not on the MLS if they've been at it awhile.

Don't tell everyone you have a lot of money to bring to the table at first. You just can't be too sure who to trust. Start with smaller deals and make sure you can trust your mentor. 

DON'T get impatient. The deals are there, even in a hot market. You need to dig, drive for dollars, write letters.