My long-term strategy is buy-and-hold for the cash flow, however, I am somewhat interested in flipping at first in order to increase my available capital if I can find a trustworthy and experienced partner.

I would love to be able to help new investors that have trouble finding the information and work with experienced investors to learn.

I would suggest this, reach out to one of the many experienced wholesalers here on BP and make them an offer to help you as you get started.

Are you a real estate investor who focuses on rehabs? Many of our rehabber clients have had success in 2012, while others have had varying success. But what is success? Does that mean you sell the property for the ARV...

Well, if you don't have much experience, and you're looking for an investment where your biggest time investment is in "the initial research, due-diligence required, etc," then I would suggest finding an experienced and successful investor who needs capital, and partner with him/her.

If that is the case, perhaps the answer is to build better systems and better relationships (or more of them) so that you can increase your local deal flow.Flipping out of state without an actual partner with boots on the ground is a very tough challenge and only for the very experienced investors who can handle and adjust to the problems they WILL face.

However we are also all about disclosure and don't have any hidden fees , upfront fees, or back end charges.There was a local mentorship program in our area, where experienced investors worked with students.

I'm not sure that the mentality of older, more experienced owners will out perform a new owner who is at least familiar with real estate and the market area.

You could spend a fortune retrofitting your house depending on what needs to be done, and I would bet that if you had 10 different engineers look at it, you'd get 10 different opinions.

Having a partner not experienced in real estate will make your decisions more difficult than they need to be.