New member in Providence Rhode Island

[David Sisson]

I'm an experienced architect, and have bought and sold a couple of homes for my wife and I. The first of these was a slow flip (3 years) that we lived in while we rehabbed. Got lucky, and even though we made a ton of mistakes, got out with some cash in hand. 

I'm looking to learn how to do this right, and eventually invest again. I don't have much money to invest, so am looking for ideas about how to invest right. I don't know if it's flips or buy and hold, but in my area there are a lot of opportunities for multi families, rehabs too. A lot of properties that need gut rehabs. 

My goal is to set aside enough money - or have consistent cash flow through rents - to pay my daughter's way through college in 10 years. After that, have $ and/or cash flow to set my wife and I up for retirement. 

I do a lot of work for investors who are doing this, and have learned their stories a bit. I see it's not easy, and not something to jump into without doing your homework, hence the reason I'm here. 

What I'm good at: doing research to learn what can and cannot be done with a property, either through a zoning analysis or through building code. I know how to get variances and how to negotiate with building departments. Because of this, I can see some opportunities that may not be obvious to most buyers. 

I'm not so hot at: figuring out the other things that might be important - like location or the $ analysis. In my area, there are many rough or C grade neighborhoods that may have great opportunities for rental properties, but I'm a bit terrified of actually doing business in these neighborhoods. The nicer neighborhoods are probably outside of my investment price range and may not be the best investments anyway (?)

Ok, done rambling. I'll probably lurk for a long time before posting.