Is Flipping Houses With Little To No Capital A Viable Option?

[Joseph Henry]

     Hey, I'm 20 years old and I barely have any money in the bank. I've just been hired to do maintenance at a college, I'll be making roughly 11 dollars an hour.

    Here's my question, is it realistic for me to try flipping house (I'd like to be making about 30k a year purely from real estate) starting out. If not what other type of investing would you suggest for someone in my financial position? If this is a viable option for me, how would you suggest I go about it? 

Also, as a side note, approximately how long would it take me to get to 30k a year flipping houses?

[David Faulkner]

I agree ... trying to flip houses with no capital or experience is NOT a good idea. Here are some better ideas to get started in your situation:

• Get your RE license and hang it with an experienced broker with an impeccable reputation who is willing to take you under their wing. Help others buy & sell RE and earn while you learn.
• Apprentice under a skilled general contractor or other skilled tradesman. Earn while you learn the construction side of the business.
• Network at local REI clubs and meetups. Find a mentor and find a way to help them.
• Get a library card and read everything you can get your hands on. Read through the BP forums.
• Read up on personal finance and become a master at managing your own money ... income & expenses. You will know when you've mastered it and are ready to invest because the money you will need to start investing in RE will magically start to accumulate in your bank account. If it doesn't, you're not ready ... if it does, then REI is also just managing income & expenses, just on a bigger scale and with leverage.
• Don't focus on how long it will take, like there is a magic time number ... focus on the learning and growing process and slowly, surely, and systematically building your knowledge and skills without trying to shortcut around those critical first steps. It takes time to build a solid foundation, but less time than to rebuild if you skip the first steps and your financial house comes crumbling down.