Hello everyone, I'm new to Bigger Pockets and feeling overwhelmed with all the information here. I've been claiming to be a Real Estate Investment guy for 9 months and still haven't closed my first deal. I'm like the kid in a candy store... so many choices. Tried wholesaling and thus far ended up wasting a lot of my time and money. Considered flipping and discovered I need a lot more money than I currently have. Learned about Note Investing from a Podcast. How did you settle on your chosen path in Real Estate Investing?

@Andrew Gibson - Last two deals were live-in flips. Financing was easier that way and we could do the repairs/upgrades while still maintaining a 9-5 job. We are looking to do that again but next time we will rent it out for cashflow!

@Andrew Gibson You don't need to settle on a path, you need to find a deal. The deal determines how you will sell it and, if you buy right, you can sell pretty much any deal.

You should be attending all your local investor meetings - go to MeetUp.com - to find what investors in your area are looking for, what they buy and where, how they find their properties, etc.

Over time you will no doubt wholesale, rehab, hold rentals, etc. all depending upon the property you find as well as your finances at the time. Build your solid foundation (knowledge and contacts) and your business will come.

@Karen Rittenhouse Thanks, I thought I had a good knowledge base and then I found Bigger Pockets. Turns out I didn't know what I didn't know. Yeah, the local Investment groups are wonderful I'm learning a lot from them.

@Anthony Cettina . What type of financing did you use for those Flips?

The first thing you would want to establish is what your goal is with real estate investing. I'm going for steady cash flow so I am planning to buy properties with buy and hold potential. Starting out I don't think I will be able to use the BRRRR method but once I get up and running that is my plan! It might not be the starting point but I definitely recommend reading up on that strategy!

@Karen Rittenhouse This is great advice!! And @Andrew Gibson if you haven’t heard Karen’s story, please listen to episode 2 of the BiggerPockets podcast. She is amazing. She knows what she’s talking about and has an inspiring track record to prove it! -Blessings to you both!

@Andrew Gibson We used FHA 2% down on the first one, which was a short-sale, and used USDA 0% down on the second one, which we only did because we bought below value and it already had built-in equity. We would have rented either one out for cashflow but since the price was right and we were moving out of state, we sold.

@Anthony Cettina - thanks so much!

@Louis La Rossa III absolutely cash flow is my primary goal but I'll take lump sum payouts from selling a property as well.

@Anthony Cettina thanks. I don't think I've listened to Episode 2 yet. I'm bouncing between titles as they grab my attention.