Brandon, house flipper, landlord, senior editor at Bigger Pockets, all around real estate investor shares what he feels is the best way to get started in house flipping.  

He recommends people start with a live-in flip.  The strategy involves buying a house that needs work and living in it while you fix it up and then selling it, either right away or several years later.

I completely agree with Brandon that this is an awesome way to get in the business and learn the ropes.

The benefits he describes makes this insanely obvious.  Those benefits include:

* Getting a much cheaper loan than hard money

* Learning how to properly fix up houses

* Avoiding capital gains taxes when you sell the house (if you live in it for more than 2 out of the last five years - reference link here)

You can also get first dibs on HUD foreclosures as they usually give a 10+ day window where only homeowners can buy their houses.  During that period, investors cannot bid on them.  How awesome is that?!