I was first introduced to real estate investing 2 years ago, but was too busy with my small IT company to take it serious.I am now winding down my IT business and looking to focus on REI full-time.I’ve joined a couple of REIA, FB, and MeetUp groups to get the ball rolling.

Once you leave the corp job, and become self employed, you can roll all of those funds into a solo 401K and own real estate within your 401K.Keep the corp job until you're debt free, and your cash flow more then replaces your salary. 

Any experts or those that have struggled initially can you please share your experience and advice on what I should do to get the ball rolling.

Are any local investors willing to share their experiences, what the rent roll looks like, and what parts of town they're in?

Over time you will network.A lot of what you get here is feel good rock n roll nonsense. 

We just closed on our 2nd property which includes a garage split into 4 storage units each with their own roll-up garage door on one end and steel door on the other.

My investing partner does not think we need to budget for Cap Ex yet because we are making a lot of heavy repairs from the start and she wants that extra cash flow to roll into future properties.

I spoke with a project manager who assures me that they do fix and flips all the time, and they are NOT worried about getting paid so long as there is a contract in place.2) Use the HML to finance the purchase ONLY ($43K), and work with a contractor that offers financing, preferably at a lower interest rate than you'd get from rolling the rehab into the HML.

I do not want to have to pay the HELOC an conventional mortgage together so I am thinking of flipping a house, hopefully done in 6 months and pay them both off and then use the profit to roll into a long term rental. 

I’m currently a sponge and willing to soak up any tips, advice, thoughts, etc. that will help get the ball rolling.