New investor looking for financing in New Orleans, FL, TX

[Greg Wolfe]

Hey BP - been listening for years but it's time to get involved!  Smart, creative, ambitious guy here.  Went to college for architecture and have worked in my professional life as a building inspector, insurance underwriter, and actuary, and I lived in a 2-fam and had two more 2-fams in my hometown of Buffalo, NY, and sold those when I got a job offer and moved to New Orleans, LA.  I put my proceeds in the stock market for now but am looking to invest in a 3-fam, 4-fam, more-than-4-fam, or mixed-use bldg.  Nola is beautiful but also a stepping stone and it looks like the next promotion at my company would be to Tamp Bay / St Pete, Florida area, in 18 - 24 months, so that's where I'm more likely to invest.

What I'm interested in:

(1)  buying and living in a 3- or 4-family bldg
(2)  buying and living in a 5- or more fam bldg - but what sort of creative financing would I need to make that happen?
(3)  Rehabbing and getting into flipping (my parents were contractors and I had a painting company in Buffalo - closed it to go back to the corporate world but have the time, interest, equipment, and know-how to do most if not all of the drywall / painting work on a flip)
(4)  Being an assistant or intern for a house flipper (I'll work for free - teach me and let me see the process from the inside!)
(5) Investing / hard money lending to a house flipper (teach me and let me see the process from the inside!)

I grew up watching my parents pour love into their big old Victorian.  I've been around houses/building/construction my entire life and a weekend of painting and polishing floors sounds relaxing to me.  The idea of having houses and building ownership turn enough of a profit to live off of, sounds too good to be true.  I am hard-wired for a career in this industry.  Just looking for the first door to open :)