Well, Aares, you’re in a pretty enviable position for a young guy in college, having 65-70k to work with, a very low debt-to-income ratio, and good credit. Do you want to flip, or do you want to buy/fix/rent?
I’d say that flipping for the retail market is a pretty involved thing, and perhaps not where you want to start. You’d need to do a first-class rehab, stage the house, work with a listing agent, understand financing in order to guide your end buyer, etc.
Why don’t you FIRST talk to some local banks, and see if you would be a candidate to get a loan to purchase and rehab an REO, and keep it as a rental for now. (You’ll need to tell the banker you’re looking for a portfolio/in-house loan for at least a 5-year term, or if you’re buying a Fannie Mae REO you might be eligible for a conventional rehab loan).
You’ll get great experience in tenant/property mgmt, and working with a bank and contractor. Look for a property in an area where you could potentially sell if you needed to. This means verifying that there have been some sales to retail buyers (i.e. not foreclosures or REO sales) in the prior few months. Try to find a property where your gross rent yield will be at least 20%-25% (mthly rent divided by purchase+rehab+closing cost). This should ensure solid positive cash flow, and should deliver a return on your 25% downpayment of 20%+).
You want to begin holding a rental as soon as possible, because lending channels will open up for you further after you have two years of experience. As you get comfortable with RE investing, maybe a year down the road, then look at flipping. It’s a very complementary business to buy&hold, and will allow you to grow your investment capital much more quickly. Hopefully the local bank you’re working with will do a rehab loan for your flip. Many banks will do these types of short term loans, it’s the long-term stuff that they’re leery about. The bank will give you much better rates/terms than a hard money lender (maybe 7% and 1 point, versus 12% and 4 pts with a hard money lender).
Good luck. Be patient, and very aggressive on your bidding. Make sure you’re buying below market on the front end, such that your total all-in costs on the property will be 25-35% below market value after you’ve rehabbed it. Make sure you use good reliable comps (look at sales within last 6 mths, and within 1-2 miles of your subject property, in neighborhoods you know are similar to your subject property) to validate this, BEFORE you buy.