New member from Massachusetts

[Ryan Miller]

Hello everyone - 

I recently got interested in real estate investing, and eventually found my way to this site, so I figured I should start at the beginning and say hello! I'm from Massachusetts, and I'm specifically interested in land flipping, at least to start - the low barrier to entry, the simplicity (vs rentals), and ability to do it while working a full time job and being a dad makes it appealing to me. 

I've yet to do any deals yet, so I only call myself a prospective investor, not an actual one. There's a ton of information to learn, and I'll be honest and admit that I can certainly see why many people start looking into it, only to fizzle out before too long.  It can be dizzying and in some ways discouraging when you see how all these other people already have their processes and systems in place, and I'm here like 'Well, poop - is it even worth it? How am I supposed to get any leads when all these other folks have experience and so many other advantages they can bring to the table?' 

But, then I remember that real estate is like anything else - things are always changing. Another investor may have hit a market the year before, but since then, some other people have become motivated sellers because their life situation has changed. Or maybe a seller ignored a mail campaign item from someone else, but on a certain day, they are more inclined to read and follow up with the one that hit their mailbox that day. Or, I look at the overall robust economy, the relatively strong housing market, and wonder if I'm entering at a bad time - but then realize that when/if things crash, that'll be another round of changes that provides for opportunity.Opportunity is born from change, and at 42, I'm old enough to know that the secret to doing something is to just get started, and to keep chipping away at it.

Anyway, my short term goal, once I have finished doing enough research and working on getting the overall engine in place, is to get a couple deals under my belt, and get an idea of what pieces of my process needs refinement in order to scale up a bit. The goal after that is to get enough monthly cash flow to basically make my monthly mortgage payment. Beyond that? Who knows - it's nice to think that after some time, I'll build up enough capital from land flipping to start investing in SFR's and branching out a bit into that direction.

So - that's my story. I'm looking forward to hearing from some other folks and learning more about this business!

- Ryan