Inexperienced, motivated and learning

[Jory Van Antwerp]

I have known about flipping property for years, my uncle did it after he retired from banking and made good profit, but I never had any money to do it myself.  Recently, I realized we have what can be considered an untapped credit line in our home in the form of equity.  My father in law paid off the house before he passed, so we have an asset worth about 220k that we can use to enter real estate investing. 

About me:  I've always rejected working for someone else all day everyday, most of my life I have flat out refused to do it. I've always felt that I am being used and laughed at - what I'm getting in return for my time is a joke, even if full benefits and a 401k are part of the give.  Because of this, I've started many small businesses, most successful, but I never grew them beyond just paying the bills because I didn't (and still don't really) understand how money works.  I've also been homeless because I've refused to be part of this system.  I always thought it was better to be completely free with nothing than handcuffed to bad debt to keep up with the Jones', so to speak.

But i'm older now, with kids that I'm responsible for - so i need to find another way to build that freedom into my life.  I don't mind being used to make someone else wealthy if it is leading to my WHY.  Even better, I took a job with a school system because then I'm able to help kids on multiple levels while feeling useful instead of used.  Now I'm looking to tap into some of that 220k of pure equity in our home to buy investment property and create an income stream from renting, and slower wealth growth via equity.

I have the idea and I have the means for once in my life - so I am here too learn how to go from point A to point B - which is all im focused on right now.  I'm reading a lot of books, listening to a lot of individuals who have done this, talking to local professionals and trying to work it all out.  It's a challenge for me because I very much dislike where I live - it's a small town in Montana isolated by 90 miles of mostly nothing to the next town, which is isolated by at least 90 more miles of next to nothing.  Property is pretty expensive here, there isn't much that RETAILS under 200k other than mobile homes, including smaller single family homes built in early 1900's.  In a town of 40k, there arent many resources here for networking either - so that,s a little frustrating, but it just requires more effort.  

Ideally, I'd like to relocate to a good rental market because buying investment property hundreds of miles from where I live seems a little uncomfortable to me as a new investor.  Our economy here is stable - very, very stable - which also means the economy isn't growing fast because it is the state capitol dominated by state jobs.  This is probably a good place to get into rental properties because there is a housing shortage and a growing population. However, the average age is 41 years old in this town - the population growth isn't from young professionals, they're all leaving - it's from retiree aged people and families who want a smaller, slower paced place to live.  This causes me to wonder if renting is the best option here long term, but that's why I'm on this forum.  I hope to get this and other questions answered through reading and talking to others.

For now my biggest challenging is finding a property within my budget to force equity into, refinance to pay myself back and rent.  I'm more focused on monthly profit right now than pulling profit from the forced equity, for now.  

Any input is welcome.  Thanks for reading this gigantic first post and I'll see you around the forums as I search for the best strategies to use the equity in my primary home.