Hi, my husband and I live in St Louis and are interested in getting into REI here. We're looking to invest 100K - 150K, and are thinking an owner occupied duplex, or possibly a couple single family homes (North County has been suggested). We've considered private lending (secured, 1st mortgage) and are being courted by a couple real estate agents and property management companies. Even wholesaling is an option... though I'm considerably more leery of that one. We're open to ideas. We aren't do-it-yourselfers but that doesn't mean rehabs are out of the question. We are NOT interested in paying several thousand dollars for an MLM or direct sales disguised as "real estate education." BP has me convinced I can find what we need on the internet with googling + a possible pro membership.
My husband has been in residential lending for almost a decade. He is SPECTACULAR at his job and will work his tail off to get his clients deals closed. So he's been around the real estate block a couple times. I'm looking to get my real estate license at least for our own deals. I'm a chemist and educator, but currently working part time while I decide if I want to make a real job of this real estate thing.
We are both total math nerds (he's in finance as I said, I'm more of a calculus girl). We make spreadsheets to decide which cruise we go on, so, yeah, lots of spreadsheets happening with this real estate thing! We made a bad investment a few years ago (a deli), and we lost some serious money. We did learn some good lessons, but I'd really rather not go down that path again.
Any advice is welcomed!
