Real Estate Investing for Beginners in Raleigh NC

[Alfred Uda]

I moved to the area three months ago from PA, the process of renting out my house in PA got me hooked on real estate investing, and ever since then I have been studying and learning about real state investing. Below are a few things I have learned:

1. Deal analysis (Single-family and multi-family)

2. How to find a pre-foreclosure from the county list before it goes to auction.

3. House hacking (Currently looking for one to do)

4. As an Engineer, I wrote a Windows application that keeps track of the property information that I have inquired about to follow up later and just because its fun to write an application.

5. Rental property process, screening, background checks, leasing etc.

So while the above is good and fun to do. I really feel like things could be moving fast, and I could be doing something different to get to the next step. Any idea on what steps to focus on at this beginner level stage or what strategy to follow for someone that have the time, ready for challenges, ready to get his hands dirty doing rehabs, and is happy to learn the business, etc?   

Thank you.

[Payton Chung]

Sounds like you already have the next steps laid out: buy a foreclosure at auction, then BRRRR / house hack it.

Backtrack a little bit and figure out what some other things to do beforehand. Can you line up a HELOC on your existing house or your Pennsylvania rental, so that you can be ready with cash when the auction happens? Can you shop around for contractors and agents to help with the rehab? Can you familiarize yourself with local laws and procedures that might help or hinder your plan? I posted about one idea in a similar topic here recently:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/726/topics/824172-looking-for-a-1-4-unit-or-other-house-hack-in-raleigh-nc