What should I do now to get to my short/long term goals??

[Jon B.]

Hi everyone.  I've been doing my homework into real estate investing and have determined this is the route that I want to go to build wealth.  I like the hands-on approach in picking your own houses, projects, tenants and so forth; and believe that the harder you work at this, he bigger the reward.  I would like to assume that I've educated myself fairly well so far by reading several books, listening to 100+ podcasts, and running thru many 'scenarios' where I calculate cash-flow of properties after expenses.  

I have decent credit around 700 and roughly $20k in savings, as well as a civil service job (guaranteed paycheck) where I'm making $75k this year, and will be making $100k-120k in two years with raises.  My only debts are $20k in student loans and $10k on a car loan.  Currently I'm renting a place with a friend where we pay $1,700 a month for a 2 bedroom here in Queens.  (I'm open to investing in NYC, Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland and Orange counties since I must reside in those counties).  I have a mentor in a former landlord who owns 10 properties and manages them himself now that he's retired.

I think to start it would be best to invest using a house hacking method, and then once I am established and comfortable enough, to do a home flip or invest in a property using the BRRRR method.

My short-term goal is to purchase a 2-4 unit property where I "house hack" and live for free or almost free, while saving roughly $1k a month towards a down payment on a 2nd multi-unit property within 24 months.

My long-term goal is to own and invest in numerous properties (purchasing one new property every 12-18 months). 

My question to what can I do to move towards these goals??