Best Strategy to Start Investing in an Expensive Market?

[Daniel Vargas]

Hey BP community,

I'm 23 years old and eager to start investing in real estate. I have access to a $500,000 HELOC but live in Fort Lauderdale, where property prices are high, and cash flow opportunities seem tough to find.

I’m considering different strategies like:

BRRRR or flips (but concerned about high acquisition costs)

Out-of-state investing (but hesitant about managing from afar)

House hacking (but not sure if it makes sense given my situation)

For those who’ve started in high-cost markets, what strategies worked for you? Would love to hear insights on deal sourcing, financing, and whether staying local or looking out-of-state is the better move.

Thanks in advance!

[Nathan Gesner]

Quote from @Daniel Vargas:

I think you should consider a house hack. You are young and presumably single, so living in a master suite while renting out some other rooms is easy. It gives you one property that can potentially pay for itself while putting a roof over your head and giving you experience as a hands-on landlord. It won't take much money to purchase something that makes sense.

Use the remaining money to invest long-distance. There's plenty of information on how to find a good market with a quality property manager. You could buy 5+ cash-flowing houses and let a professional PM handle the load. You have to pay fees, but you'll have a professional handling issues instead of bleeding money trying to figure it out for yourself, then you have your time free to pursue other things.