45% equity in primary, 100k cash, looking to get started

[Kevin William]

I'm interested to get started in real estate investing. Perhaps a duplex, triplex or something of the sort. I'm not interested in taking on a high degree of risk. Primary residence is worth about $325k (I owe $180k on it). Also have about $100k cash.

I've been planning on trying to pay off the primary residence before getting into rentals, but I've reconsidered this.

There's a pretty attractive location that is pretty hot, yet still has some really crappy houses nearby. I've considered exploring the idea of buying the crappiest one, tearing it down and building a triplex or quadplex on it. Though admittedly I've done very little true due diligence on the #s for this situation and if the zoning is even permitted.

Again, I'm comfortable with using leverage, but I will likely always keep it manageable. I never want to be in a situation where I'm concerned about staying afloat. If that means waiting a couple more years before getting into real estate, that's ok, too.

What would your advice be for getting started? What would you do in my situation?