First deal small money

[Daniel Price]

Hi guys, first time poster here long time fan of bigger pockets. In a nutshell my situation is, I’m sure similar to a lot here. Just wondering of anyone was under similar circumstances.

I’m a late enough starter (34) and after being a bartender all my life, I’m ready to move on and make some bounds. I passed my real estate exam and am interviewing brokerages to hold my license and also to learn the tops of the business from that side. My ultimate goal is buy and hold rentals.

I live on Long Island and just can’t afford to get started here. Am I crazy in looking at some counties upstate? I’ve looked at some foreclosures and REOs that could be picked up extremely cheap (20-30k), lot of work to be done probably another 20k to make rentable. The market I’m looking at, comps have sold in the 60k range and the average rent would be about 7-900 per month for a 3 bed house. My main goal is to cash flow, be it $10 or $200 I just want to get a deal under my belt and lose my pants in the process.

What are the main things I should look for in these properties, what will cost me/save me the most money?

Thanks in advance, any and all answers are appreciated.

Dan