New Member from Bucks County / Philadelphia Suburbs

[Joseph Cochran]

Hello BP! 

I'm a new investor from the Philadelphia / Bucks County market and I'm looking to get started on my first deal. I come from a corporate finance background, working as a financial analyst in the retail industry until earlier this year. I studied Real Estate and Finance at Temple University in Philadelphia and graduated in 2012. I've been studying on on BP for about 6 months now I want to take the next step! 

I'm planning to start my career by flipping SFHs in my home area, Lower Bucks County, and then slowly acquiring rentals in Philly to hold for the long term. I have a close friend who owns a small construction company wanting to partner up to flip the houses ourselves (doing all the work we can while subbing out what we can't) to create the capital to buy and hold and to not have to do the actual work ourselves.. My plan is to have flips pay for holds. 

I don't have a company set-up, haven't spoken to a lawyer or accountant, and currently don't have much capital to start with (about $7K) but I'm going to find my way in. Sounds like a lot of negatives, but I have a strong drive and I'm willing to put in the hours necessary. I have written down my business plan (even though it's only about 3 pages) and started to build analytical tools in excel to analyze properties. My mother is an agent and works with few investors but mainly chooses to work with sellers.. Plus side to this is I can become her "assistant" to gain access to the MLS.

I'm looking for some beginners advice, local REIAs to meet up with, or someone who's interested in getting coffee and wouldn't mind a brain picking session. I'm very efficient with Microsoft Excel and could offer some bookkeeping or paperwork catch-up in exchange for your time, knowledge, or skin on a deal. 

I look forward to hearing from the community!

Best,

Joe Cochran