All Forum Posts by: Carrie Alluri

 I hear ya Tuan! I need more like 30 hours/day ;o) Brandon has mentioned he loved math so I would love to see a formula for that.

Has anyone done kind of the reverse...the newbie lends some private money in exchange for gaining expertise from the House Flipper?

I have some funds available, but it's not enough for a full house purchase and rehab and I'm worried about blowing my money on a bunch of newbie mistakes. I would love to find an experienced flipper (flipping houses is my goal), lend him/her some private for one of their projects and "follow" them through the whole process. Maybe shave off some % in exchange for the mentoring? Has anyone heard of or done this before?

Thanks everyone for your advise. I love that I got replies from all different perspectives. I think I will stay the cautious route and only mention REI as a hobby on my personal accounts, but use separate accounts for true social networking and marketing.

I am still working full time while trying to get started in REI. I feel like I should keep my REI efforts secret from my employer considering I want to quit my job someday to do REI full time. Therefore, I'm hesitant to mention anything REI related on Facebook or LinkedIn in case any of my colleges see it. On the other hand, I would love to use Facebook and LinkedIn to connect and promote my REI efforts. Any advice on if I should allow my employer know about my REI or using social media for REI purposes while still employed full time?

 This quote and the Panda Express fortune just saved me from a potentially bad (first) flip deal. I put my overwhelming want to get a first flip done before the numbers. Luckily, I backed out before I lost my earnest money. Thank you!!!!

Thanks for the encouragement Mark!

I really do like BP. It is the best RE site I've found and I've looked at a ton of them. I do keep doing something everyday with REI. I hope to get my first SFH to flip soon. I just wish I could quit my job sooner than later.

So I've listened to many podcasts and read many forums and blogs here at BP about getting started in RE investing. All of what I hear is from investors who started out with no kids, some not even married, meaning they just had to worry about supporting themselves.

Is there an experienced investor out there that got started in real estate investing when they already had kids, a spouse, a house and other responsibilities that they accumulated before they jumped to RE investing?

As you probably guessed, this is my situation. I can't stand my job/career that I thought I wanted and now want to change to RE investing in the middle of tons of time and financial responsibilities. Any advise/experience to share to calm my fears and panic would be appreciated.

Hi there. My name is Carrie Alluri and I'm from Gurnee, IL. I have been married for 12 years to a great husband and have wonderful sons. I have an Electrical Engineering degree but haven't designed anything in over 9 years having moved into more of a project management role.

I have been researching and researching real estate investing for about 3 years now. This is after 10+ years of knowing I didn't want to have someone else responsible for how much money I made every year. Yes, I know, 10+ years is a long time. I did a lot of business start up research over those years and drove my husband nuts with ideas from Herbalife to website development. 

I was turned on to real estate investing, specifically flipping houses, because it seemed to fulfill all my requirements for a new career as my own boss. I want to try to maintain the lifestyle I have accumulated while working my job (that I really don't like anymore) by bringing in close to my current salary. I love doing rehab of any kind (although mudding drywall is my least favorite). I want a flexible schedule without a set amount of vacation days or sick days.

Given all that, my husband and I have saved up about 6 months of our current salary and have various other investment funds. We don't really want to touch our investments (they are doing pretty well after the recession), but the savings is a possible start up source for flipping houses.

I want to quit my job so badly because I have a long commute and I'm not interested in my current career any more. I have a very good salary right now which is the biggest thing keeping me from quitting tomorrow. 

My current situation: I started looking for houses about a year ago now in Lake County, IL. I have been through 3 realtors, 6+ lenders (looking for a renovation loan), 3 inspectors and 2 lawyers. I am in the middle of a pending contract on a house that I'm afraid I am paying to much for. I did my math right, but got in a bidding war and settled for a higher purchase price than I planned for. Now I'm learning my renovation loan (close to a 203k loan without the primary residence requirement) is requiring me to hire contractors for way more than I planned for. That's killing me because I want to do the work myself and I'm cheap :). I think I may have to back out of this deal. That is really discouraging because it puts my goal of quitting my job out even further.

With the demands of 3 kids (2 in sports), 1.5 hour commute each day, and my current job, I'm having a really hard time fitting in starting a new career and business. I'm hoping Bigger Pockets can help keep my spirits up, guide me in the right direction so I don't loose all our savings and maybe even find me a partner/private money to lessen the burden on this newbie.

Sorry for the long post. I tend to ramble on when talking about all this. I am very anxious to get started, but worry I'm still so far from my goals.