Expectations

[Carl Miller]

I'm going through a career transition at the moment.  I've been working as an accountant for seven years but I'm a licensed attorney.  I've begun my own law firm in the last few months.  As the reader will imagine, I can't show stable income.  My law school loans push my debt to income ratio into unfavorable territory for traditional lenders.  I want to get started finding properties to rent but I wonder if right now is the best time for that.  So here's a hypothetical scenario.

Suppose I find a property that would be a great rental property.  I would plan to talk to private money investors to go in on the property.  However, I envision the following problems:

If I find a private money investor, what is in the deal for me?  I don't have a lot of money to put into the investment, what cut would the investor be willing to part with?

How long does the private investor want to stay in the investment?  If the investor wants to get out in 6 months, I don't think a bank would be willing to do a refi because of my debt to income situation.

Is now the right time to try and find a rental or should I focus on establishing the law firm and paying down debt and get an education so that when I'm ready, my finances are in order?