27 and ready to RETIRE!

[Veronica Tello]

Hi all,

I'm happy to be in this community and would love to hear more of what you all have to say. Thanks for offering to pay it forward and helping the aspiring investors out! I am super fresh and have a very general plan but I'd love to hear any advice/thoughts/comments any of you might have.

A little about me:

Im 27, I live in NYC but would like to move to Miami. I have a few grand saved up and I work at a start up. On the side I run a small clothing flipping business that makes me about $8-$10k per year that all goes into my savings. I have a 5 year plan where I want to save to buy a couple of properties. I'm interested in beginning with buying and holding and perhaps do some flipping when I get the hang of things.

My job allows me a lot of time to do things for my own business like shipping and answering questions throughout the day (and listening to Bigger Pockets!) but I don't particularly learn anything. I have begun applying to property management positions but I don't have any real estate experience so I will likely make less than what I make now. I feel like that is a blow I should take in order to gain the experience.

I've also spent time reading blogs, listening to podcasts and reading books but you never really know the gravity of what you are getting into until you actually DO IT.

Something I am becoming more interested in is investing outside of your state. I don't see myself buying in NY and the market in Miami is also competitive.

My main questions would be:

1. What do you think is a good cash reserve to have in order to begin investing? Yes, I know you can get creative and do it with no money down but I want to create a safety net for myself.
2. Is it worth investing outside of your state? Or would you leave that to the more experienced investors?
3. Is it worth taking a lower paying job to gain the experience? I think it is, I'm trying to convince my husband!
4. Do you find that buying and holding is in fact, simpler to do than flipping?
5. Any other suggestions or places where I can get some more informal education. I love podcasts so if you can suggest any great ones, I'd really appreciate it. I'd also love to hear more about how you all have navigated being a newbie in this intimidating field.

Thanks guys. 

P.S. I was kidding about the retirement thing, though financial freedom is the reason I want to become involved in investing. 

[Basit Siddiqi]

Welcome to biggerpockets!

NYC may not necessarily the greatest place to find cash-flowing investments. However, the city is great that it has so many real estate networking events during the month. You should attend a couple and see what other investors are doing.

1. What do you think is a good cash reserve to have in order to begin investing? Yes, I know you can get creative and do it with no money down but I want to create a safety net for myself.
   
   The answer to this question is it depends on what market you are investing in.
   Likely the lowest amount you can get into an investment property is using an FHA loan which requires 3.5% down. 
   If it is not an FHA, you will likely need 20%, closing costs + emergency fund.
   
2. Is it worth investing outside of your state? Or would you leave that to the more experienced investors?
   
   There is nothing wrong with investing out of state. Many investors in NYC do so. There is a book by David Greene that goes over long distance investing. I would suggest giving that a read.
3. Is it worth taking a lower paying job to gain the experience? I think it is, I'm trying to convince my husband!
   
   It really depends on if the lower paying job has a skill/trait that you will find beneficial to your real estate investing career. 
   Also, you can partner on a deal with someone else and give up some of the profit percentage in exchange of learning.
4. Do you find that buying and holding is in fact, simpler to do than flipping?
   
   Again - answer to this question is it depends on the quality of the house that you are purchasing.
   
   Buy and hold - purchase property, hold it and rent to a tenant. Renting to a tenant can be complicated especially if you self manage.
   Flipping - purchase property, fix it up and sell it.
   
   Buy and hold investors can buy properties that need only paint and carpet fixups or decide to purchase a property that completely needs to be fixed up. The worse condition the house, the more difficult the renovation project is.
   Flippers normally buy properties that need some work to be fixed up.
   
   So in this case, if you don't have experience purchasing a property and fixing it up, then yes, flipping can be more difficult. But buy and hold can also be difficult as flipping if you also consider the self-management portion.
5. Any other suggestions or places where I can get some more informal education. I love podcasts so if you can suggest any great ones, I'd really appreciate it. I'd also love to hear more about how you all have navigated being a newbie in this intimidating field.
   
   Attend a local real estate networking event and listen to the BP podcasts and books.