45 yr old Newbie from Clearfield, Utah

[Eldon S Bailey]

My name is Eldon Bailey.  I am 45 years old.  I have a lovely wife (high school sweetheart) and five adult children.  I retired from the US Air Force after 20 years, and now work full-time for the USAF as a civil servant.  I am starting my Real Estate business in the Clearfield, UT area with plans to stay within 20 miles, unless a very sweet deal presents itself outside of that area.  

My real estate strategy is as follows:  buy-and-hold, Single-family, 3 - 4 bdrm, 2+ ba, approx. .25 acre lot, $120,000 or less.  EXCEPTION: I would be willing to do an occasional flip for capital.

My short-term goal, to be quite honest, is just to get one good deal under my belt.  I have so many questions, and trying to stay focused is getting hard, because I'm not even sure which questions are really important right now and which ones are just distractions.

I'm not looking for a get-rich-quick thing.  I'm willing to work hard to do it right (i.e. Business plan, marketing, legal, etc...).  I want a business, not a scheme

Finally, I would like to throw one question out that has been bothering me.  So many investors seem to have their broker license.  How important is it to be a broker if you want to invest in real estate?  What are the pros and cons?

So far, I love BP.com and BP podcasts (listened to about 30 so far), and I look forward to building some long-lasting relationships with great professionals.

[Mike Gallagher]

welcome to bp, im currently renovating a home for rental around the corner from you in  sunset.