The chicken before the egg ??? A little about me I’m 37, I have been a plumbing foreman building shcools the past 12 years. I was taught growing up that what I should do is find a good job, save as much money as I can in my 401k and never dream of touching that money tell I’m 65 and retire off into the sunset and enjoy my golden years ...::. And that what I have done !!!! But the last few years I have been changing my mind set through reading and listing and dreaming ... I know there is better out there for me and I don’t want to wait tell I’m 65 or 70 to enjoy life and have financial freedom. I’ve looked into lots of options for my self to get there and I know real estate is what’s in my future and I want to flip houses I have been wakIng up at 330 am for years now and have worked my butt off to get to the top of my industry, Im ready to work for myself, I have been reading any book I can on real estate and flipping houses and just business books and self motivational books. I’ve reached out to everyone in my life in the industry, I have interviewed a few real estate agents, contractors, I’m going to my first BP meet up next weekend. I have been looking everywhere I can at deals just to get used to seeing listings. I am talking to anyone I can that will listen about what I wanna do and networking as much as possible . So my question is what comes first the deal or the financing ? Or am I thinking the wrong way , any help will be greatly appreciated

@Chris Williamson Get the financing before the deal

You definitely want to get pre-approved. If you have a property in mind, even better. Seeing the closing statement was eye-opening for me. If you're trying to use the BP calculators to analyze a deal, I found they are not accurate for closing costs as each state deals with taxes at closing differently.

Financing. Proof of Funds. 

Once you know exactly what you have to play with, what down payment and reserves you have,  then we can start searching for opportunities you can actually write offers on and most importantly close on. 

 If you plan on purchasing commercial 5+units and then it comes down to the income of the properties and how much money you have to put down. For residential (2-4 units) and if it is a flip type deal you want to work with someone who can fund smoothly with little delays. More often than not, a 2-4 unit flip type deal will find it hard to get financing depending on its condition and you will most likely get offered out by other investors putting in all cash. 

Plenty to think about.

:-)