I have been on the fence for the last year and a half in regards to investing and I finally decided to take the dive and just go for it!

I joined Bigger Pockets a few months ago and tinkered around a bit, but I just finished my profile and I'm excited to dive in and meet new people.I'm currently focused on Fix and Flip investments in Indianapolis and Dayton, OH.

A little deeper follow up question.....When you say "Also, if the seller ends up backing out of a deal, you will either have to give the money back, or get to keep it depending on how the assignment agreement was written up".  

I just wanted to see the property before digging any deeper.

If you only want to be active, then dive into it w/this site, meeting folks at local MF meetups, attend local MF investor conferences, etc.  

You may need to look deeper than usual into the REI community but there are usually a few 100% hard money lenders in Cali.

I have a real passion for real estate and currently own two properties, so naturally I would like to grow this aspect of my life and feel that initially I can maintain my full time gig while diving into investing.I would love to meet and network with other individuals in my area. 

I've heard some BP folks say that you always want a cushion of equity in case the market dives, but since everyone is so jazzed up to refi and strip equity, I feel like a safe equity position is rarely mentioned and often overlooked. 

It has its ups and downs but its allowing me the jump off point I wanted to dive into REI and my next career.

Neil that is Great Your Taking the Dive in Buying Your First HUD Property are you using Hubzu or Going threw another Source would Love to here how it goes an your Process please keep us Posted.