I am happy to say that I completed my first fix and flip today! In summary, here's how it all went down:

I saw an ad on Craigslist for a home in North County, MO selling for $15k. I shot the seller a message stating that I'd like to buy it for $9500; comps were at $46k, but realistically, $25k since some comps were a couple of years old in that area. I set up a time to meet the seller to take a look at the house.

When the meeting time came, I was happy to find out that the house was in pretty good shape and simply needed a few touch-ups to make it rent-ready. I sited the repairs needed and negotiated to pay $7500 and have the seller carry the remaining $2000 balance to allow me time to fix the place up. We agreed, closed and went our separate ways for a time. 

I immediately got an initial repair estimate for around $5500. I beat that estimate and eventually got what needed to be repaired/replaced for roughly $1550 (new furnace, new carpet, new tile, new paint, mowed the grass, cut down some shrubs, and added a porch light).

I paid the note off with the seller and put the property up for sale. The property sold for $22,500 and we closed today.

This was great since I didn't have to spend a ton of money and I got a feel for fixing and flipping. 

I'm happy.

Now, on to the next project...