Teacher Starting Plan B for Retirement/Financial Freedom

[Marti Stanford]

Hello,

I'm in the Central Florida/Orlando market and looking to start investing in real estate. I have more background than the average nube since I've worked as a credit counselor and loan underwriter before, renovated 3 of my previous residences, and currently drive Uber and have REALLY learned our town, but know I have SO MUCH more to learn. Even though I'm massively eager to get started, I'm also aware that it's really easy to make some pretty expensive mistakes. I'm attending my first CFREI meeting later this week. I've been ravenously reading and listening to podcasts the past few months, and I'm considering wholesaling as a start to raise a bit of capital, especially since I cannot move out of my current school zone for 18-24 months without family drama, and there are exceedingly few deals in that small area. Though, if I found a place with 2 units or a beach condo I could live in when the kids are with dad and use for vacations (over 50% of time) that I could Air BNB out, I could make an owner-occupied house hack.

And, through the power of Google and FB, I'm now getting hit with TONS of ads for real estate training courses, hard money lenders, and services that are supposed to help find leads, but I know they are ads, and really need to figure out how to vet all this stuff.

Any suggestions for someone very serious but just starting out?

How soon in the process should I legally become a business by filing an LLC or C-Corp?

Thoughts on moving my retirements into a self-directed account that can be used for real estate investing? I have about $80K there and my current abode is manufactured and worth about $55K. Not sure if I can use that as collateral since it isn't real property. I just know I have money sitting idly and playing dead that I really need to leverage and take out of the risky market.

How do you find good legal, tax, and accounting professionals?

Are special online investor apps worth what they cost?