All Forum Posts by: Reddrick Whatley

Hi everyone :) I'm the daughter! (Already a BP member.)

I'm graduating with a 3.8 GPA and a Bachelor's Degree in Marketing from USF in fifty-something days and I am a former accounting major. I found that while I enjoyed accounting, I did not want to work for a big 4 company or make it my full-time job. That said, the education that provided launched me into wanting to pursue real estate investing, which I found more challenging and exciting. My fiance is a software engineer and also wanted to get into real estate investing. Since deciding this, we've saved around 30k for our first home and I've encouraged my father to sell his fully paid-off Hyde Park bungalow for capital so we could start flipping. We have not been leveraging our money or taking advantage of OPM. Very rarely does a $400k property make a good rental. For us, it made more sense to go into flipping OR -- if we stayed with rentals -- to leverage our money, buy cheaper properties, and gain a lot more cashflow with multiple properties than one paid-off expensive home.

I know Tampa is a tight market for new flippers. I hope to focus in on Logan Gate (Citrus Park), Carrollwood Meadows, Lutz, and Plantation areas. I live in Northdale, my dad lives in South Tampa. I pick these areas because I live on this side of town and am very comfortable with the neighborhoods: they have decent schools in family neighborhoods and starter-size homes (3br/2ba) that are easy to sell. Most of my real estate education has been right here from Bigger Pockets. I follow the 70% rule, I analyze properties on a regular basis and feel comfortable pulling comps for the areas I focus on. I feel comfortable estimating reno costs and am not above pulling up old carpet and soaking underlayment (as I learned very recently!) and will soon be getting my real estate license so that I may gain access to the MLS and work in that area as well. Every few weeks my fiance and I are able to find a deal that passes all my tests but we're never able to get the financing (despite almost an 800 credit score) because most are REOs and need too much work OR someone beats us there! As many of you know, cash is king, so I'm really excited my dad is willing to start this up with me. He is great at the structural and damage side of houses, I'm great at the design and financial aspect.

Anyway, looking forward to working in the same area as some of you all :) And looking forward to networking! Any tips for two newbies are always appreciated!