If you were to start from scratch today...

[Jim Davis]

My wife and I have become increasingly interested in diversifying our portfolio and investing in real estate. Most of our non-liquid assets are invested in a low-cost, globally diversified ETF portfolio, but see a lot of value in increasing our income and net worth through real estate.

So my question is this - if you were starting from scratch today, where would you start investing if you were going to be using your own assets? AirBnB? Long-term rental? Flip? We are interested in the prospect of starting with an AirBnB and leveraging that asset down the road to acquire multi-family properties and/or long-term rentals.

For context - and maybe this is why I'm a little "gun shy" - we live in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex where property taxes are asinine and homes are still selling well above asking prices and appraisal values.

[Nathan Gesner]

Quote from @Jim Davis:

For context - and maybe this is why I'm a little "gun shy" - we live in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex where property taxes are asinine and homes are still selling well above asking prices and appraisal values.

Welcome to BiggerPockets!

Spend a few hours researching markets around the country and you'll find DFW is not unique. Properties are over-priced everywhere and too many people are making foolish choices.

I recommend you spend the next few months learning the basics through books, podcasts, blogs, and forum discussions. Develop your goals and figure out how you're going to get there. It may be short-term rentals, could be commercial investments, or maybe you want to invest in syndications. Figure out where you want to end up, learn the various methods of transportation and which one best suits you, then look at buying tickets.