College graduates interested in investing in Real Estate.

[Diana P.]

My greatest strength is that I'm a bookkeeper, I invest in the market, I save most of my income and I have a excellent credit score. As of today, I have about $15,000 in mutual funds (emergency account, short term savings and Roth IRA). I make about $38,000 per year as a personal assistant but I have about $10,400 in student loans.

My best friend's greatest strength is that she studied both Architecture, Furniture Design and also has excellent credit. However, she  has about $35,000 in student loans. Would it be wise to start soon or after we are done paying off out loans?

We really want to do this but we understand that this is a long term investment & commitment . We are from NYC, would it be wise to start in NYS or out of state?