Sarting a career in Property Management

[Jake Loviska]

Hi Everyone,

I'm green, young (26), and full of dreams. My wife and I just got back form a year of world travel. Time to get back to the grind. I discovered BiggerPockets while we were on the move and found I am drawn to real estate. I want to get a job in property management or property acquisition, or some other option I maybe haven't heard of yet. I am not super interested in being a real estate agent. I am trying to determine a sound course of action. We am currently in my hometown, Kalamazoo, MI (pop. 70,000).  We are thinking of moving back to Chicago. Eventual goal is to by enough units to replace one full time income off of cashflow ($50K), withing the next 15-20 years. For reference my background is a Bachelor's in accounting and I worked at the IRS for 4 years prior to our trip.

So my question is do you think it makes sense to stay small town, lower income lower expenses. Or option 2 to is go back to Chicago, higher salaries and more opportunities but higher cost of living. We could invest in Kalamazoo and work in Chicago I suppose. Has anyone had experience small town vs large city? Any general advice on the best way to get started is great.