Confused Beginner Wanting to Invest

[Lakeshia Clark]

Hello BP Community!

I want to be a PROFITABLE real estate investor but I have no clue what to do. I do not own a home and I'm 40, so I am getting started with this pretty late in life. 

Here's my dilemma; I rent and want to own a home. I am open to buying a duplex/triplex (multi), where I would rent one out, live in the other, then in 2 years, or so buy a single family for myself. After I buy the single family I want to get a few buy and holds and get into fix and flip later.

I don't want to pay market prices. I want a property I can fix up to my liking (bathroom, kitchen), but I don't want anything close to a full gut. 

How do I go about finding a home like this? Should I start out doing wholesale and be the buyer or should I check with wholesalers to see if they have a property I want to buy? Honestly, wholesaling scares me. 

The areas I am interested in is PA, NJ and DE. Since I will be living in the property the area and schools need to be good. 

How would I fund this with little money? I could probably do a conventional loan but I didn't want to put that much down or use my money. Since there will be repairs FHA is out the question. What are my options?

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

Keshia