Brand New Investor, Looking to Connect!

[Mark Clayton]

Hi BiggerPockets! I'm SUPER excited to have joined the BiggerPockets community. I've been reading as much as I can from this forum for a few days now, and figured I'd make my first post. I'm a cyber security specialist (i.e. still an employee) looking to transition into real estate. Currently, my chosen niches is flipping small single family houses and then hopefully transition into short term vacation rentals (the plan is still a WIP lol). Anyway, I just wrapped up the The Book on Flipping Houses and looking forward to joining the DFW community and getting started and connecting with everyone!

Additionally, I'd love some general guidance around the following as I work towards finding my first deal. 

1. Should I spin up an LLC before my first flip? Or wait until I'm a little more established before operating as a business entity?

2. As I'm building my team/network, I believe I have my GC and Private Equity Partner(s), Cleaning Crew, Pest Control, and Inspector. However, is it recommended at this stage I find a wholesaler? attorney? CPA? appraiser? Anything else? 

As you can guess, I'm filled with questions as I continue my journey but there's no need to bombard a forum in a single post :)