I am seeking advice as a beginner as to where to start

[Randy Ray]

So I am a 27 year old single dad looking to begin my lifelong journey of my passion I've always thought about going forth with it but now is the time I would like any help or advice as to where to begin I have strong skills with being able to fix anything in the house I have many years of Maintenance experience and I know I probably will have to buy and sell a few homes before I can buy then rent but I would greatly appreciate any ones advise as to where they may have started and what was successful for them or what I should not mistakenly do I have the passion and the drive I just needed a hand I am currently working with $10,000 sitting in my savings and a credit score in the 700 range PS I'm in Rockford Illinois

[Dan M.]

If I could go back to being 27 I would not have bought a big house to start. I would find a property where I could house hack - my meaning of house hack means purchase a property and rent half of it out so your cost of living / cost to have a roof over your head is very small or next to nothing. That will really help you save. Ideally this property could be one where I could "live in flip" meaning I would do the work over say a 2 to 3 year period a little at a time until finally I added more value to the home and can sell it tax free ( talk to an accountant - I am not an accountant ) and then do the same thing all over again. This will help you get money. You will need money - alot of money -to be successful in the game. Yes it can be done with little to no money down but it is very difficult to get anywhere using these types of strategies. Definitely possible, but it is infinitely easier especially in this market to have money and make purchases and repairs needed. 

If you do that a few times you will only be around 35 years old and should be sitting on a pretty sizeable nest egg to invest with, where you can have an LLC and put 20% down on future properties no problem. Putting 20% down allows you to not pay for PMI which is a small leech on your income for a long time.

Where I am now for reference is I did the American Dream thing, bought a large house I have too much space for and although I have built equity over the long term by paying the mortgage I would probably be retired now if I did the live in flip process instead. Why I think this would be a great strategy for you is because you have 1) time and 2) you say your handy with fixing things. 

Also like Tim mentions go to the club and meet with people that have experience who may have properties that they want to offload because they are at a different point in their life where 1000 / m isnt that exciting anymore but selling a property and traveling around the world for a couple years is. You could get a good deal that way or just listen to stories to learn things and get contacts. If you hate it you don't have to show up ever again but to not spend a couple hours to find out would be a bad investment.