@Heather M. Interesting! Our stories are very similar in regards to investing. My ultimate goal was to be a buy and hold investor. I felt like wholesaling, then rehab & flip were going to be my path to get to B & H. I experienced some of the same feelings when wholesaling. I also did not want to quit and questioned whether I should after 5 months of direct mail and driving for dollars.
Wholesaling allowed me to better understand my market which includes the metro Atl area. I began to see that it just wasn't a lucrative time for that aspect of REI. Are people out there doing deals, making money, etc. ; of course they are.
My suggestion would be to first, trust your gut instincts. Work on analyzing deals in the area that you plan to buy. Also, continue to save your money so that you can make that down payment and have the reserves that you need. Continue to learn about B & H investing, but don't go overboard because experience is the best teacher. However, you want to know enough that will help you make wise choices (that's prob a bit vague).
I became interested in REI in 2014. Mostly did some learning and joined my local REIA the first year. Jan 2015 is when I started wholesaling and stopped in May. I am scheduled to close on my first property next week (praying that all goes well). In hindsight, I wish I had someone to advise me to just work on saving my money and prepare to B & H. I have a FT job and make sacrifices so that has been helpful for me. Plus, in my area I have only heard experienced investors confirm that B & H (vs wholesaling) is the wealth builder if that's your goal.
Good luck!
