I am 22 years old and am a career Firefighter. I have read multiple books on long-term real estate investing and really would like to purchase my next home within the next year or two, seeing as home prices/mortgage rates are on the rise and I would like to earn some positive cash flow each month on my investment property. I understand that reading books does not give me all the experience needed, thus me looking for some guidance on how you, the experienced investor would start their REI career if you were in my position. I am interested in SFR 'buy and hold' properties solely at the current time. Once I have built up my REI portfolio a bit, I think I would like to break into the commercial side of it. But that is many years and books down the road.

My financials:

I make 40k a year

credit score is 700

I purchased my first home 8 months ago, I currently owe 142k on it. It is worth 160k-165k. This is an FHA loan. My mortgage is $860, which includes a $110 PMI

I have a roommate who pays me $500/month

$400/ month car payment

No other debt

$2k savings

My questions:

Do I make enough a year to begin REI? How would I obtain multiple properties with my DTI ratio?

Does having a car payment make my goal of 'buy and hold' REI out of reach, or does my roommate offset that amount?

How would you begin, if you were in my shoes?

I know paying off my car is most likely an important factor, but I'm trying to avoid that for right now, seeing as it will take me awhile, which would push back my purchase by a good amount of time.

I really appreciate any help offered. Thanks for reading.