2020 Newbie with a plan + questions

[Nick Holland]

Hello all - I've been reading the BP forums & books, listening to the podcasts and watching YouTube videos on REI for the past few months now and decided that 2020 will be the year that I stop being nervous and take action! I've started putting together a plan for me to "buy back" my 8 hours that I spend working for someone else via REI and am looking for guidance to help me figure this out and avoid common newbie pitfalls. I'll share what I'm working on and will try to be as detailed as possible.

Interest: Rental properties/Fix & Flip (depending on what the numbers say makes the most sense)

Goal: Own enough properties to generate $6k/month in order to quit my current job. Next step is to scale up to $10k/month, $20k, and so on. I'm open to being pretty aggressive to scale quickly. 

Markets: I'm interested in the mid-west markets because I'm familiar with them and have family resources there (my cousin remodels kitchens/bathrooms) that I can use. I'm interested in Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago, Kansas City. I'm also interested in the Philadelphia and Atlanta (my current location) markets.

Profile: I don't have much big debt besides my auto loan which is about $7k right now. Student loans are paid off (THANK GOD!) My credit is 700+ and I have a little under $40k saved up. I'm a great saver and have been building this up for some years without having any real plans on what to invest it in. I've set up my new LLC and company bank account as well.

I'm currently working with a friend of mine on obtaining financing to purchase a property in the Cleveland area. I'd love to have other deals in the pipeline as well but I'm scared of biting off more than I can chew, especially since the first deal isn't done. The plan with the Cleveland opportunity is to obtain 100% financing to purchase & renovate and then to rent and refinance or completely flip it. We're still in the phase of getting approved for loans. I'm also on a local Atlanta realtor's email list and see a few wholesale deals that I think could be profitable but am nervous about spreading myself too thin/jumping in too deep so early in my REI career without having someone that I can call on for guidance.

If anyone has some tips/steps that I can take immediately or insight on these markets, please let me know! If there's anyone out there (I'm in Atlanta but you don't have to be!) that I can connect with 1-on-1, please let me know! If anyone has feedback/questions on my plan or anything else above please let me know! I'm a sponge right now trying to learn and take as much action as possible. 

Thanks BP crew!