I had to bust a move and take the first step

Okay BP friends. I'm going to be as transparent as possible with regards to writing about my experience as a new REI and finding/funding my first deal. 

I'm currently working a full time job as an I.T. Engineer here in the Atlanta area. My wife works as a full time job in a call center who has also finished her last pre-requisite class before she's eligible to apply for Surg-Tech school. Ever since the emergence of the countless number of HGTV fix and flip shows I've been intrigued by the ROI and beauty you can turn a crappy house into after renovations. But just like many of you, reading Robert Kiyosaki's "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" I have really begun the journey of teaching myself the ins and outs of REI. My short term goal may sound crazy but I'd like to pull at least 6 Rental property deals with at least $300/mo cash flow from each within the next 18 months. The long-term goal is to earn financial freedom within 10 years through REI. 

I like passive income because you can still keep your day job, which I like and make a good amount of extra cash flow on the side each month without doing any additional manual labor. 

So after reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad, reading Brandon Turner's "Investing in Real Estate with No (and Low) Money Down", studying everything I could on biggerpockets and listening to just about every podcast I could I began to put everything I've learned so far in action. So my first step was to check with a national bank to see how much house I could afford via the conventional route. 

I was approved for $60 house with a conventional loan with a minimum 20% down payment. At the moment I do not have $12k floating around in the bank or the 3 months PTI in reserve, so I have to start thinking creatively to fund my first deal, but I do have about $5k in my 401k in which I can only take out $2500 as a loan. 

Fortunately I have a realtor who was my realtor when I purchased my current home via FHA who is a REI-friendly agent. She's been extremely helpful in sending me houses to check, so now I have to keep the ball rolling in trying to fund the deals. By the way...the calculator tools here on BP have been a tremendous help in analyzing these deals. 

Now, my next step is to reach out to some hard money lenders to see what kind of financial options I have. I'll keep you posted soon. 

Please feel free to respond or provide any guidance to working the ins and outs of earning that first deal.