As in my profile, I have been a long time student of real estate beginning with Rich Dad Poor Dad.  I have developed a great natural friendship with a property manager over the last 5 years or so.  He does real estate and property management full time and I've always talked with him about aspiring to dip my feet in.  

about 2 weeks ago, my wife and I were looking at a house online that our friends had just purchased and noticed a home a block down from them with a FSBO post. We clicked on it and it was a simple post with one photo, a few details, and CASH DEAL ONLY in large block letters. It was a large 5 bedroom house with 2 bathroom and beautiful gardens. Owners had inherited the house from a deceased family member and tried renting it remotely for several years. Not sure what happened but they wanted out, and a wholesaler made a contract with them for $45k. House has an ARV of around $120-140k and probably needs $25-30k worth of work. I did some homework and called up my property manager friend and got his advise. I emailed and called instantly and he was actually in the area and knocked on the door. No one answered but we met with wholesaler that night. We instantly realized it would be too much for my first investment, so he made a cash offer that was accepted and gave me $2k! I was stoked!

2 days later I put a bid on my first home that I plan on flipping.  We close next week.  

Woohoo!