New Realtor no business, no money, no help. I’m itching to jump into investing. My plan is to get my first home in 2 yrs which I will house hack, after a year do another then move out of state acquire a property in a great location and Airbnb that home. In between that time I’d like to flip homes. I am losing my mind sitting on this plan because I have no funds. What can I do now?

Michael,

It sounds like you have a lot of ideas and enthusiasm!  It'd be easy to get bogged down in the details of the 5-10 year plan (Will your second property also be a house hack? Which state/city will you move to? What attributes will determine a great location there? Are you going to do short-term rentals while still doing long-term rentals on top of also doing flips?) so it helps to start with figuring out where to begin. Brandon Turner often talks about focusing on the MINS (Most Important Next Step) and that may be a good place to start, especially if you're feeling overwhelmed with so many thoughts on what you'd like to accomplish in the coming years.  

Based on what you've shared, it sounds like the area you feel like is most important to address right now is getting funds to invest.  I'm assuming you've already decided on a property type, area, budget and the like for your first house hack.  Have you taken a look at how much you'll need to buy the property?  Since it will be owner-occupied, you should be able to get attractive financing and may be able to swing a lower down payment, although you may encounter some challenges with underwriting having just started a new job.  Have you spoken to any loan officers to get a better picture of what kind of down payment you'll need to have to see if you can make the purchase in less than two years?

While having long-term goals and a plan of how to get there is wonderful, you don't want to become so lost in those ideas that you get stuck on what to do today.  I'm confident you'll be able to make your first purchase for a house hack sooner than you think, particularly given that there are so many folks in the BP community willing to share their advice and experience!

Thank you for that insight @Jon Coleman

I am aware of all the specifics, low downpayment, the state would be Arizona. I feel as though I have no questions on executing this plan. I guess my question is what can I do now to build the funds needed in order to start flipping and gaining that hands on experience. (I’m like the freshman on varsity anxious for his time to shine). The only way I can see myself building the funds is by working at a W2 for a while. Being a new agent is a bit worrisome. I network every chance I get hoping to land a mentor who may have the funds and is looking for someone hungry like me. I can bring value by finding them deals as I know a few wholesalers, but also representing them as their buyers agent. Yet still no traction.

@Michael Anderson

That is great that you've been able to research financing options and have a plan for pursuing the purchase. If you're looking for both experience and building your savings, you might consider connecting with people in your area who do flips/BRRRRs and offer to assist with unskilled labor. In David Greene's BRRRR book, he makes a recommendation to hire individuals for the parts of projects that can be done by unskilled labor as a way to keep costs low on rehabs. There may well be people in your area who would hire you to assist with those tasks. This could be a win-win as it would give you the combination of income/experience you seek and they'd have a highly motivated, hard worker for their renovation projects. While this wouldn't likely generate a large amount of money for you very quickly, it would be a great way to make headway on both of your goals at the same time. In addition to learning more about flips while doing work for them, they'd likely also be willing to help connect you with people in their network who could help you in your new career as a realtor.

Hopefully other folks on BP can share their insight and advice on wholesaling as well as finding success as a new real estate agent!

@Jon Coleman

This helps a lot, I will definitely take action thank you.

Hey Michael, it sounds like you have the plan, now you just have to execute it when the time is right for your life. Not having the funds, you can still invest in yourself by reading books on real estate, investing, and financial planning/accounting.  Also, you can continue to listen to podcasts, webinars and YouTube.

With all of that, since you're a realtor, you can promote yourself, network, and possibly partner with a flipper. You put in the time to find the homes, research, analyze and make the deals, and your partner can fund the deals or be the flipper.  Then, you can split 50/50 or whatever arrangement works.  They are other areas that you can invest your time in and bring value to a partnership with having little to no funds to get your plan in action.

Good luck!

@Craig Anderson

Thank you for the insight Craig