Make sure to factor in all expenses, including property taxes, insurance, maintenance, and property management costs.Once you've found a suitable property that meets your criteria, make an offer and move forward with the purchase process.

Sorry to be blunt, but if you chase cash flow you won't have a Real Estate investing career. 

Since i started my HML career in Detroit in 2002 basically and have done hundreds if not at least 1000 deals in Ohio..

I am starting from the bottom up and am in need of some first steps that would be beneficial to start my career off.

Basically, Hey, I'm a new investor that thinks investing is all rainbows & unicorns, so can you hold my hand and give me the best advice & deals that's taken you a career to figure out?

I've been wanting to finally jump into the game but have been hesitant as I'm relatively young (mid-20's), recently started my career, building up some of my own money, and just been nervous to make the jump.

We own a top-rated local property management company and real estate brokerage here, so lots of resources no matter where you are in your career and always happy to help! 

I currently have a full-time career as a senior engineer in the aerospace industry, but I’ve always been interested in real estate, and I view REI as a way to supplement my future retirement.I’m interested in initially doing fix and flips to build up capital for buy and hold investments in multi-family properties, and I have about $200K in home equity that I can leverage to get started.

fix-it-all (joint compound with some additives) is not suitable for exterior at allYes it will wick in water as the paint deteriorates, and cause more rot, and keeping a good coat of paint on it won't be enough long-term in many/most climates.bondo (polyester auto body resin) is a cheap-ish "alternative", although harder to get detail work just right and not really all that suitable anyway (maybe ok with a good epoxy / primer, perhaps?).

As Tim Shiner says in show #300, start your REI career with your first home purchase!