WHEN do I get started buying my first property?

[Matthew Russell]

I am in my late 20's and have spent much of my life flipping and maintaining properties with my dad. Because of that I really enjoy home management, and have dreamed of flipping homes / setting up rentals. One thing I haven't seen people talking about is when to start. I currently have about $6,000-$7,000 available to me to buy a home, with about $3,000-$4,200 each year to put a down payment on a property. 

My problem is that most people are willing to leverage high debt to buy property, and I am not. I am comfortable getting a 15 year mortgage on a property and making those payments, but I do not want to then turn around and get more debt by "leveraging debt". This just seems reckless to me. I say this because I understand that this will mean that my growth will be slower than someone else who is more comfortable than me with debt. 

All that said, at what point should I take the cash that I have to buy my first property? I dont feel like now is the best option, especially since we just moved our family into our new home a year ago. But should I wait until I have the 20%, or do 10% and accept PMI, etc ...

Thanks!