New Member from Dallas, TX

[Justin Cooper]

I am just now starting to try to take real estate investing seriously and am really grateful I found BiggerPockets. This site really is an amazing source of knowledge and I am really excited to join and be an active participant in the community.

A little about what I'm trying to accomplish. I am at an awkward stage where I am realizing how little I know about real estate investing, but have all of the impetus to go get started right now. So, I am trying to figure out a strategy for a 26 y/o that can realize goals of passive income and early retirement, I just don't know the first step. I have a good amount of money saved up ~$20k and am wanting to purchase a fixer-upper that would amount to a long-term either flip or buy-and-hold. I have so many questions on where to get started in terms of purchasing and if my idea is even correct for a first purchase. Do I buy from a wholesaler, retailer, pre-foreclosure (and how to get someone to agree to that), REO? I hope as I navigate the site, I will become more fluent so as to answer these on my own.