Newbie from South East Michigan

[Patrick Sullivan]

Hello everybody, 

I'm new here on the Bigger Pockets site and to the world of REI in general. I've completed school and work full-time as an Aircraft Mechanic. With my current career I have a lot of free time/days off- so I began researching REI on the side. Since my research started a couple months ago- I've become obsessed. The Bigger Pockets Podcast and forums have basically become daily habits. Through them I've found books that were repeatedly brought up by successful Investors such as 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and Millionaire Real Estate Investor- I'm in the process of reading them now. 

Currently my plan is to buy a Single Family Home for myself in the Metro Detroit Area and perform a Live-in-Flip. My goal is to complete this process as fast as possible, but my expectations aren't TOO high- I'm thinking a year or so, possibly less, would be ideal. I've narrowed down my farm areas and have 5-10 homes that I believe could be good deals. The MLS seems to be slightly limited in what I'm looking for- so I will also be doing some driving and walking through neighborhoods to see what I can find.

Being a mechanic, I'm fairly handy and also have a good group of peers to help with projects. Where I may need guidance is with financing options. What's the best route for this type of plan? FHA? 203K? I could put anywhere from 3.5%-15% down. If I'm planning to flip fairly quickly- should I put the minimum down or more? Does any of this even sound like a good way to get in to the REI?

I'm hoping to learn as much as possible from as many people as possible. It would be great to be able to meet up with other Investors in the South East Michigan Area and discuss options in the future.

Any/all advice is welcome.

[Brandon Gentile]

Welcome @Patrick Sullivan! Good to see another MI investor. Definitely invest a TON of time and knowledge in to the forums, podcasts, and learning. This will be your most useful tool in the beginning. I started out the same way (kind of). Bought a duplex to live in one side and rent out the other. Performing some variation of a live-in-flip is certainly the way to go when you start out. Most people don't have that option. Take advantage.

There are many great individuals in the area on this site and many local meet ups as well. @Tom A. has a meet up he puts on with a great group of people. I would suggest starting there! Good luck and hope to see you around!