Your enthusiasm is terrific and will help you go far but please take ALL of Bill's advice without being discouraged. It is all very practical and sound advice.
I lost everything in real estate my first time around because I just jumped in. I had an incredible corporate career as a Marketing Executive, had always been rapidly promoted and made great money. I had my MBA and thought I would invest in real estate. The problem is that although I am extremely smart, my area of expertise was in marketing, not in real estate and certainly not investing. Education in these specific areas was essential to succeeding.
Anyway, enough about me....this is about you and your journey. I encourage you to take your time. Real estate investing should be a long term financial strategy. You are young and I assume you are going back to school because you see the value in an education. You need the same education to properly invest in real estate, some of which includes the legal aspect, the tax consequences from every angle you can imagine - things you haven't even thought of yet, the importance of diversification of your investments, etc. I know you are intelligent and I am sure you have thought of all of these things but they are bigger than you can imagine and take more time than you can imagine, especially with being a mom and going to school.
If you are that serious about real estate investing I would encourage you to align your schooling with your REI goals so you are killing two birds with one stone so to speak. Join your local REIA and begin networking. All this can happen in Colorado since you take your knowledge with you. Once you feel you have sufficient education, have networked sufficiently to built a team consisting of:
A mentor.
Several lenders because you don't want to do all cash deals (that is the mistake I made first time around)
A Realtor knowledgeable in REI. Many Realtors know about buying and selling primary residents but not buying and selling investments properties.
Several contractors because the one you want may not be able to do your work when the right property does come along.
then I say you are ready to look for a property that makes sense for your goals, whether it is a flip or a rental - one of each. Both will teach you about different aspects of real estate investing and you may find you have a preference for one or the other or neither. And just like any other job you will have bosses and employees. I think of the IRS and my tenants as my bosses because they always want / need something that will cost me money (LOL) and my employees are the property management groups and the contractors.
I hope this was helpful in giving you a different perspective than Bill but I think equally important.
All the best Randi
