New Flipper - Would love some advice

[Mo Farraj]

Hello all, my name is Mo. Very happy to be part of this forum, and was hoping I could gain some advice from you wonderful people. I have a finance background, I've been day trading for over 7 years now. I've decided to move my focus into real estate because trading has become almost impossible with the growing use of algorithms. From listening to the podcast, and reading over some of your posts - I have some questions I hope you guys can help me answer.

1. Any big advantage/disadvantage to buying and flipping vs leasing out to tenants? What is your preference?

2. What is the average time to flip a property in your own experience? (I see many people take 2+ years to do so - I was hoping someone can elaborate to why it takes so long.)

3. What are 3 things you look for when you want to make a flip, what is on your checklist before actually making the commitment in an investment?

4. For those who have tested the waters - would you mind sharing your biggest mistake and how you could've avoided it when you first made an investment in a property?

5. What is something you wish you had known before making your first investment? What could have saved you thousands of dollars?

6. Last but not least - I would love to know your personal motivation in real estate. Throughout my life I've met people who flip homes and only make a few grand on a deal that took 6+ months. Why not get a full time job as opposed to waiting so long to make a few bucks? (I'm hoping someone can prove me wrong - and share a success story or the potential in real estate).

Thank you all for any help, have a wonderful day!

Best,
Mo