Looking for the next step in Charlotte, NC

[Alex Chernikow]

Hey everybody, I'm Alex, 32 years old and living in Charlotte with my wife and dog.  I've sat on this BP account for a while now and finally ready to act towards my RE goals. 

My only experience in RE is purchasing a condo in Charlotte in Dec 2014. We got into it with 5% down and the plan was achieve 20% equity, get out from under PMI ($250 a month, ouch) and then figure out how to get into real estate investing.

We've been paying a little extra every month, and in November 2016 I refinanced. It sped things up as I got my interest rate down almost a full point, lowered my PMI to $50/month and decreased my overall mortgage and escrow payment ~$300/month. That feels like a win, and that's all my RE experience.

One of my good friends from college currently flips houses for a living in Nashville, TN and seems to be killing it.  I spent some time with him around Thanksgiving talking shop. I decided to fly him out to Charlotte later this month to look at neighborhoods, pick his brain, and learn something.  Any help from the forums would be awesome.  I've got about 36 hours with him.  Does anyone have ideas on how I can make this a productive visit?

My goals are vague right now.  First I would love to learn how to identify a "good deal."  Buy and hold rentals that cashflow seem nice and conservative. Flipping houses sounds more risky, but also more sexy.. I don't know, maybe I'll do both?

Not really sure what else to say here.. What did I leave out?  Can anyone recommend good next steps?