New Investor from Dallas, TX

[David Chapman]

Hi, new member at BiggerPockets.

Brief intro: My family and I have just returned to the US from an international job assignment, and we have settled down in Dallas, TX (where I grew up). While overseas, my wife and I have talked at length about investing in residential real estate (single or multi-family) when we returned. We like the physical nature of it, the steady streams of monthly cash flow, that it can provide a service to the community, and with investment it can help to improve the quality of life in the local community as well.

Real Estate experience: I have owned 5 primary residence properties in my life, but I've never invested directly in real estate other than holding a few REIT funds in my portfolio from time to time. My wife has experience in residential design (and she has been the sole designer and occasional GC on the remodels on our last three homes).

Goals: I pulled some equity out of the market and thought we would use that buy maybe 1-2 single-family homes here in Dallas and see how we liked being actual landlords. My education background is in finance and I took a RE Finance course in school, so I follow 95% of what I've read about real estate, but my deal experience is zero so I'm fully aware that I won't know what I don't know until I get my feet wet with a couple of deals.

First question:

• What would you consider today as the best investment options with $100k in cash? We are focused on local Dallas market, Residential (SFR or Multi), hands-on or passive, no short-term pressure for it to be cash-flow positive in the short-term.