~500k liquid to invest, recommendations?

[Gregory Van Heest]

Afternoon BP Members, long time lurker.

I am a recent college graduate in a fairly average job (~40k/yr) but due to an unusual circumstance have a relatively high amount of liquid capital. I have looked into several of the podcasts/forum posts on here and real estate investing seems a solid way to build wealth over time.  

My question is what area would you tap into in a similar situation? I've considered private lending and also buy & hold, flipping seems to take too much insider knowledge and risk that I'm not comfortable getting into. I would prefer to leverage purchases but I'm worried that despite liquid capital I will be rejected for having a thin credit file & only ~6 months of salaried work history. Would lowering LTV's or somehow escrowing PITIA help in getting mortgages approved? Or am I better off waiting and developing a longer credit & work history?

Sorry for the lengthy post, any response is appreciated.

Thanks, Greg.