New Guy From Pittsburgh

[David Spinnenweber]

Figured I should come in here and introduce myself. I joined a while ago but jest the other day felt the need to post, as the search bar has been able to answer most of my questions.

Anyway, I am a 29yr old single dad. I currently work for a public funded transportation agency that is falling apart, and putting my job at risk within the next 6 month. However I am staring a influx of cash in the face, as I am about to settle an insurance claim in the coming months. After everything settles and I pay off my school loans, credit cards, etc, I should have 50k to fund a new corp into REI. If I loose my job over the summer, I would like to be able to do REI full time, but I am more concerned with getting my first deal done.

I am thinking about going into fix/flip a few houses in cash, build my cash on hand then buy a rental, then flip a few more, then buy a rental, etc etc. I might even get into mobile homes as I have been reading alot about lonnie deals. Since I only have 50k in cash, I like that I could get into mobiles for low out of pocket cash.

Any reccomendations? am I planning this backwards? Is 50k enough to get started? I could up it 75k if I dont pay off my student loans, but I like the idea of being debt free, especially if I loose my job.

I have been lurking here for a long while, learning what I can, and hopefully make a few contacts in the coming months. I still need to learn the ins and outs and would like to see a deal work, or find a mentor if at all possible before I start throwing money around. If anyone lives or does any business in the Pittsburgh area, drop me a line.

Dave