= 23% Iam pretty good at math, but apparently, that means squat if you are a novice at real estate.

I'm a novice, but if I were on the receiving end of a pitch to use my money to seller finance deals, I'd want to see a strong track record of the person I'm working with and some above-average returns.  

Yes you 'could" sell some junk deal to a novice investor, but really should you.

I am a total novice in terms of actual investing and I am looking to gain as much knowledge as possible.

Surely you are also able to notice that I am a novice at this point.

I am still a real estate novice and am wondering if in addition to using a lawyer for entity formation and to do a purchase contract, should I use a buyers agent to represent my entity that knows this area well and is experienced in commercial transactions in this area?

I am a novice so anyone please chime in if I missed anything or did may calculations wrong.

(could be a fun thread).Of course, as a real estate novice, this is the final hurdle to be becoming a highly successful, financially independent, beach vacationing, attractive and wealthy real estate investor.  

We just sold a property that had been in the family for $110k this past fall and have found a similar property, bank owned, that we're offering $60k and hope to have it on the market in time for the late spring buying season.I am a little nervous with both properties because we're new at this and I'm sure we're going to find we've made some novice mistakes, but in both cases we've given ourselves wiggle room so, as long as we keep thinking through things, I'm hopeful we at least break even and learn along the way.

Potential cashflow and the cost of getting there means a lot.It is not easy to determine potential cashflow as a novice investor though.