New member and an introduction

[William J Hodgson]

Hello everyone, I just found BiggerPockets a few weeks ago and have jumped in with both feet.  And as they say - I'm drinking from the firehose.

My story:

I’ve always ‘wanted’ to invest in real estate, but never took action. I’ve owned three different primary residences, but never a flip or rental. I’ve had a number of life changes all compressed into the last six months or so, and now’s the time to take action.

My original goal was to flip properties and build wealth that way – I never saw myself being a landlord. After going through the initial four intro videos with Brandon, my eyes are open to the multitude of methods to build wealth with real estate.

Back to the life changes – I’m 58 years old, was recently divorced, my father passed and I lost my job due to covid - a trifecta. So, the divorce led to selling my house and getting a portion of the equity in cash. My father’s death led to a decent amount of stock investments as well as a little cash. The job loss has led me to finally get off my butt and change careers – I’m an accountant by trade.

So, I have the ability to basically start over. My plan is to leave the Houston, TX area behind and head to the Raleigh, NC area. Obviously, I won't have a job, so no income to show mortgage companies. I will, however, be sitting on the cash and investments I mentioned earlier. I've always done my own repairs around my house, so I'm well versed in plumbing, electrical, simple drywall repairs and painting. Given those skills, I'll be able to do most renovations/repairs on any properties I want to flip or BRRR. It's also been suggested to me to use those skills to set myself up as a handyman for some amount of income. That's a crapshoot, especially in a new town, but I believe between any income there along with draws on my cash reserves this is a workable plan.

Having said that, I'd love any and all input on the soundness of the plan and whether I'd have success building wealth, and maybe some cash flow if I go the BRRR route.