I have $50k cash ready to invest and $50k in liquid assets.

[Eric Turner]

I am curious where I should start. I have been studying and going in and out of interest in real estate investing for literally 19 years without ever doing a deal or taking the next step.

This is going to be long. My goal is to cash flow $4k/month. Thats the amount of money with vacations but without extras like summer camp for our kid that we need to live a happy frugal life. That's the amount I want to cash flow. I would like to eventually have double that, as that is what we currently bring in pretax (sort of). I would also love to flip one home and wholesale one home because I like to do things to find out if they are for me.

I decided a few years ago, that I would get my finances in order. Have zero personal debt ($42k at the time, cars, credit cards) and wait for a housing market crash or stabilization (lesson learned). Now 100% debt free. A 6 month nest egg. And we save $4k/every month after our spending budget. We have 50k in cash and we could if needed pull another $50k from LOC or very low (8.9% apr cash advance from our credit cards, no fees).

Some issues. I am self employed my income is low $27k on taxes for 2020 I expect more in 2021, maybe a lot more. She is w2 $59k 2020. Biggest issue we live in a suburb of Seattle (snohomish county). Median home price is 540k. We rent. We can't afford to even buy a decent home here with our income. So we rent and save.

Option #1) I am looking at pulling the trigger on a direct marketing campaign over 6 months that will cost me about $12k. No idea what my roi would be, it would be a complete gamble. I have a couple experienced people willing to guide me through, but no guarantees and they want a 20-30% cut. Goal is to wholesale a deal or two. Flip a deal or two. And make a finders few on a few referrals for agents.

Option #2) There is also a local coaching class that seems to be decent. It is $2k no upsell, good contacts and the teacher says another $5k to find the first deal (money back guarantee on the $2k). So $5k on this avenue.

Option #3) And the last idea is just investing out of state. Without even off market deal. Just the MLS still produces cash flowing properties. Sure way more risk, but way more reward.

I prefer to stay local. But buying a cash flowing mobile home park in the desert for $200k with a cap rate of 20% is interesting. Or a triplex in the Midwest with a cap rate of 13%. Or an sfr with with an 8% cap in a b+ neighborhood with a steady tenant and no deferred maintenance. I can afford the down payments on all of these. But which should I choose?

Thoughts? Seriously appreciate any and all input. If you are local, down to meet and talk JV

[Marc Rice]

@Eric Turner

I would stay away from the first marketing and course route because it sounds like over the past 19 years you’ve been downloading knowledge but it still hasn’t even pushed you over the jump yet - so I doubt those will either.

I think first step you need to do is get an owner occupied loan preapproval so you can do a 1-5% down loan on a 1-4 unit and start cash flowing while eliminating your biggest expense - housing. The first step is to get with an investor friendly agent in your market and they’ll connect you to the rockstar lenders.

Do you currently own your home now? How comfortable are you with investing out of state? You can find homes starting at $50k in the Midwest and use leverage to obtain them, but you’ll sink all your cash in one deal.

You may want to consider a career change if you’re only making $20k a year. Maybe become a realtor and start making some big commission checks, learn the nuances of the market, find good deals that no one else has, and pay yourself commissions when you buy deals.