NY/NJ Newbie and CPA Advice

[Noah Clark]

Hi BiggerPockets community!

My name is Noah Clark from Poughkeepsie, NY. I am currently living with family in Ridgefield Park, NJ in order to save up money to hopefully get started in real estate investing. I recently started a job working in audit after graduating college and I passed two of the four CPA exams so far. I have come to realize that I do not want to pursue a career in accounting but I am unsure on whether to finish the exams and stick with this job for the next year to obtain my CPA license. I am also trying to figure out what my next job would be. I am a very extroverted person so working in accounting is just not a good fit for me. I am considering working in sales or potentially another position that allows me to get some exposure to real estate. If anyone has any suggestions for my situation, I would really appreciate it!

As far as real estate investing goes, I am still very new to it but I have been educating myself with podcasts and books over the past few months. I am currently planning on staying in the NYC area while I start my career, save up capital and continue to educate myself on real estate, but eventually I would like to move out of New York to start investing somewhere more affordable. Ideally, I would want to buy a MFH so I can house hack and get experience as a property manager while saving money on rent. My biggest concern now is I am a bit lost on what markets to begin looking into. I have always wanted to live in a warmer climate (ideally closer to a beach) but these properties tend to also be expensive and are better for appreciation than they are for cash flow. There is also a lot of competition for MFH in some of the areas I have been looking at so I was just wondering if anyone has any input on markets I should look into or what I should be focusing on next. 

Also, if any investor in the NYC area is looking for help, I would be happy to work for you in my spare time to gain a little bit of experience!

Thank you so much and I am super excited to get started in this journey!