HELP!! First time investor questions (I have a plan)

[William Pelton]

To anyone who may have experience flipping land/homes in rural areas outside of major cities, please read this post and I would love to hear any insight as to what experience you have had and any advice you would be willing to give a first-time real estate investor to give some direction to get off their feet and into the market for the first time. If you would just like to make general comments on my finances or ask me random questions as well, comment or ask away….

To start off, I’m going to give a brief summary of myself and finances to be as transparent as I possibly can:

My name is Will and I currently reside north of Atlanta in a suburban town of Cumming, GA. I moved down to Atlanta four years ago after college. I am an engineer working in Roswell, GA, with a degree in Civil Engineering. My wife and I are 28 and 27, respectively (we don’t plan on having kids anytime soon). Between my wife and I, our current annual income is around $100k per year. We just moved into our first home about 3 months ago. Below is a good summary of our monthly income/expenses. Please note that we have no credit card debt and our cars are paid in full. Also note, I was pretty conservative with my estimates.

Income and Assets

Current Savings (Between my wife and I): + $10,000

401K (Between my wife and I): + $15,000

Equity in Home (Have owned home for 3 months): + $20,000

Monthly Income (After Taxes): + $5,500

Expenses

Mortgage Payment (I don't have to pay PMI): - $900.00

Home insurance: - $75.00

Average Utilities (Electric, Gas, Water, Trash, Internet): - $275.00

Random Subscriptions (Prime, Spotify, etc...) - $50.00

Student Loans: - $500.00

Food (includes occasional take-out): - $500.00

Car Insurance: - $180.00

Cell Phone: - $120.00

Pet Food/Supplies: - $100.00

Others (hobbies and random items): - $300.00

Total Monthly Expenses: - $3000.00

As you can see by quick glance, we are able to save approximately 2k-2.5K per month based on our current financial situation. Now that you have a good idea of our finances, I am going to dive into what I was planning on doing to get involved in the real estate market.

The safe approach (or at least what I would call safe). I was planning on going in on a 3-5-acre plot of land in the North Georgia mountains near one of the many touristy vacation towns about an hour or two away from my home address. I was planning on starting this endeavor with a very good friend of mine in the Atlanta area who shares the same aspirations as me and is also very sharp with their finances. Our plan was to buy a piece of land (30-40K) in North Georgia and pay in cash. Have a well and septic system installed (30k). Both of us have had experience in home framing/foundations so we would then build cabin homes at different locations on the plot of land and start a rental vacation cabin/home company with virtually no debt (except annual property tax of course). We are very serious and determined about doing this and realize that this would likely take the next 5-10 years of our savings and finances just to get this off of its feet. We have been discussing this for about the past 2 years and now both of us have home and have somewhat of a saving account built up.

My questions are as follows:

Am I crazy for thinking of this as a plausible scenario?

Is this a project we could complete in sequence? For instance, could we buy the piece of land this year wait until we have the finances to keep moving forward with the project, or would our money be better used investing in a vacation home right way?

Would it be smart to invest all of our savings into a project like this if it isn’t producing any passive income right away?

Would purchasing a vacation home and renting be a better idea? We would have to undergo a joint mortgage. Is this a good idea to do this with a good friend?

Would flipping land in North Georgia alone be a good opportunity? If so, where are some good places to start looking?

If anyone else has had similar experiences they are willing to share or would just like to elaborate on the above questions, your responses would be GREATLY appreciated.