Critique My REI Plan

[Rick Sheldon]

Hi,

I have been wanting to get involved with real estate investing for years, now, and I think I have a good chance to do it. I currently have a very flexible sales job and the chance to move to my hometown in the midwest, which cash flows pretty well. I want to use rentals as my vehicle to wealth, but I think wholesaling sounds like a very important aspect of diving in... Why not try to uncover deals yourself for max profit? Please don't use this opportunity to discourage me from Wholesaling, just assume I was going to anyway. 

The real decision I am seeking advice for is whether or not I should become a real estate agent, in the process? This is how I can imagine the next few months going:

1. By the end of March, I will have moved to hometown and buy a house for $60K, which will have very low payments and should cash flow about $100/month after vacancy, property manager and maintenance. After buying this house, I will have $5K to get licensed, insured, CRM and other tools for the business. I will have another $15K in savings and $35K in retirement accounts

2. Since I will still have my sales job through this time, I will receive about $5K per month for salary, with personal expenses of $1,300/month. This allows me to save $2K while investing about $1,500/month into the wholesaling/real estate business in the form of lists, skip tracing, Deal Machine, mailers, etc.

3. I would focus my efforts to typical wholesaling lists (like equity), but I would be able to offer a more complete variety of ways to get any homeowner's house sold. Some people are better suited for listing on the MLS, but some houses will not qualify for traditional financing or the buyer may want a fast all-cash close for a variety of other reasons. I would make proper disclosures in all cases.

4. I would focus exclusively on listing homes as a real estate agent, opposed to acting as a buyer's agent. This is why I will be able to focus well enough to be an agent and a wholesaler. I am more niche than most agents, I only sell homes.

5. As I earn and save enough, I will buy and house-hack a $200K MFH with an FHA loan, and only have to put 0.5% down, since I will earn 3% as my own agent.

Sorry for rambling, I've been overthinking this for a while... Please let me know if it sounds like a good approach, or if I am taking on too much.