Welcome! You should be really proud that you're getting started early. Every investor says they wish they'd started earlier. Here's some advice for you:
- don't count out your local market. In almost every market, you will find people not from that market investing there. You may or may not find a niche that you like and that works for you there. Starting closer to home can be a little bit easier.
- be careful taking advice from people who are not doing the thing you are trying to do. If they tried and failed, they probably have some valuable lessons to share. If they never tried, then it's just conjecture.
- stay focused until you get that first deal under your belt. If you're trying to pursue too many things you'll probably close on none.
- your first deal doesn't have to be a homerun. Base hits are ok, too. It's easy to get sucked in to other people's success stories and think that's the bar you need to hit. But they usually don't tell you about all their base hits (or strikeouts) along the way.
- join a local REIA even if you don't intend to invest locally because you'll learn so much from others and you never know who they'll have connections to.
Good luck to you - you're already off to a good start by building relationships!
