Don't like to think of myself as a "complete" newb

[Kim VanLandingham]

as life in general may have been preparing me to do something like this.

Have been a work at home mom for 12 years after being in the Dental field for 12 years. DH and I bought our first home 12 years ago also (12 seems to be the magic number here).

The home we bought needed a complete rehab. Since we have been here, we have put almost 60K into our house with myself doing about 95% of the work. (Babies are great but I got a little bored. When the girls were 3 & 4 I had a hammer in their hands lol).

Anyways, I have done it all; tiling, drywall, framing, installed doors, carpeting, rough and finished carpentry, knocked down walls, installed cabinets, laminate flooring(I didn't want the added expense of hardwood), finished my basement (DH did the electrical although this does not appear hard to learn), designed and built a 20X20 paragoda/arbor for my patio (with some manly help) and installed a vinyl fence. I have worked with contractors for the new cement work, garage and roof.

Now that my home is complete and the girls are older I am getting bored again. During the last two years, I have been watching (studying) the market and I would really like to pick up a few foreclosures to hold for five years or so (college money). Although, I would like to flip the first one for intial cash to get started.

I am eager to learn the ins and outs about mortgages, landlording, realtors, networking etc. I am up on the basics in these areas but not the nitty gritty stuff. I am not a stranger to the pitfalls of this endeavor as this is probably what has kept me on the sidelines to this point but I know there is more to learn about these pitfalls and how to avoid them before I buy my first house. This is why I am here!!!!

There is so much more that I need to learn, I just need a little direction in which way to head first.

Thanks