Is now not a good time to start investing?

[Todd Sullivan]

Hello BPer's!

I am a new investor, trying to score my first deal.  I used the downtime of COVID to get my RE license last year (why not save some money doing my own deals, do my own research and a good way to learn the industry and market) and after doing a ton of studying and listening to a ton of podcasts, I decided to get the ball rolling.  I can't be an investor without TAKING ACTION! and I have been analyzing properties and making bids but I keep getting outbid (people have too much money in this market, lol).

My current plan is to flip houses to build up money so I can get into BRRRRing on my own.  I am currently cash poor, so I have syndicated a few private lenders and have a hard money lender for purchase and construction costs.  Being a first time investor, I don't have a track record so hard money is pretty expensive, which also gets factored into purchase costs and makes finding a deal in this market all that much more difficult.  Plus, I live in the Hudson Valley, NY area, so houses are pretty expensive to begin with.

My question is: Is my plan flawed?  Is now not a good time to start investing?  Wait to see if the market corrects?  Wait for foreclosures to start trickling down?  Of course I can save up more capital, but more time sitting on the sidelines is less time spent DOING.

I look for any and all input as to how to get the ball rolling....