Want to buy a personal home and start a HOLD business at same tim

[Paul C.]

So, my wife and I recently moved to Atlanta, Georgia. She has a really good job that she expects to stay atleast >5 years. I, on the other hand, am looking for a new job in Atlanta as I am currently commuting back and forth from Macon, Ga on a regular basis. I am extremely interested in real estate investing, especially the HOLD strategy as a way to supplement income for now. I have done tons of research getting to the point I need to take action. My wife would love for us to go ahead and buy a forever home for us. However, I wanted to buy a house maybe a year at a time with us living in them and making renovations before renting them out and moving on to the next property. We have come to the conclusion that we will start with a forever home and then try to buy different properties that we never live in. The problem is $$$$. We have enough for a ~15% downpayment on a decent house, but that leaves us with not much. I would have ~3.5% to make another downpayment for my HOLD strategy, but that leaves me with nothing to do any sort of repairs. Besides waiting on more money, what are some cool investment/financing strategies that we could use to make both of our dreams happen? Also, are there any good online resources to gather neighborhood information about different locations in Atlanta? Any and all information is greatly appreciated.