A little discouraged

[Christopher Smith]

Hello everyone,

This is my first post so I guess introductions are in order. I am a 31 year old from knoxville that has recently caught the REI bug.

I would like to be successful in Real estate so that I can eventually leave my job. Not because I do not like working but my current occupation is very physically demanding and keeps me away from home for weeks at a time.

I am complete newbie to all of this. This is why i have been scouring the forums and reading as much as possible to try and get ahead. The only problem is that it feels like information overload. Meeting people locally is also difficult being gone so much of the time. One thing I am sure of is that I would like to invest in SFH and MF. I am looking for cash flow. I would like to be able to replace my salary with income from properties so I can spend more time at home and actually network and pursue something I enjoy

I started looking at properties in Knoxville and wasnt having much luck. Im originally from Orlando and have an Aunt threre who is a successful real estate agent. I called her and she told me she would work with me to find properties there. Basically she gave me access to the MLS and told me to let her know if I found anything.LOL. Well I actually did find something. A foreclosure in a great neighboorhood that was within my budget. It is a 3/1 that could potentially rent for 1300 a month. The asking price was 106,900. Based on my numbers the property would have cash flowed at over $500 a month with 30k down.

When I went to make an offer the agent told my aunt that they had a bunch of offers. Then she tells me that there is a good chance that many of them were cash offers and cash will beat financing any day. So how am I ever going to get I good deal without having all cash down??? I can come up with cash pretty quickly but I was hoping to stick to only using 20% down on properties to get the best return on my money..

I guess I am looking for any suggestions from experienced members that could help me out.

Also what are some of the better books that would help me get ahead?