Where to start? Seeking been there, done that advice

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@Tom Jones If you want to get an idea of how properties in an area cash flow you need to look up listings for what you're interested in to see what they're selling for. Then, hop on Craigslist and research apartments in your area and see what they're renting for. Also note if most of the listings are renovated, offer laundry, parking, utilities included etc. If the majority of listings have parking for instance and yours doesn't you're gonna get way less prospective tenants and will need to rent for cheaper than the majority. This is fine if you scored an amazing deal and can make the numbers work..Are you committed to Amherst? I lived in MA for years but heard enough eviction horror stories to decide to be a landlord in NH. You're not too far from the Green Mountains if you wanted to do vacation rentals, and you could also look into Keene, NH for student rentals. I'd think harder about student rentals.. will they be profitable despite 3 months of vacancy over summer break? Also you'd have tons of turnover as tenants graduate, change roommates etc. That's a lot of wear and tear on a building with 1-2 adults per bedroom who know it's a temporary living situation vs a couple with two kids who want to stay there until the kids graduate high school.Also, don't immediately write off a property manager. They cost 10% of your rent usually, which you should account for anyways even if you're gonna be the property manager. Your time is money and if you need to take time off work to show the property to prospective tenants or head over there to inspect a repair etc you might find that 10% is a bargain.$300/month profit means something like having to call a plumber out there could eat up your profit. If you have a month or two of vacancy or non payment you could end up in foreclosure. If you meant you're living in 1/3 units, profiting $300, and still keeping your job that's different.. but it sounds like you want to buy an investment and live elsewhere. Just keep researching and running numbers and you'll figure out what works for you.

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There are hundreds of ways to invest in real estate and make money. All have a high risk of losing money and even those that are profitable are a slow growth path to wealth.At this point in time you are at the kindergarten level of the self learning process of investing. All your questions are very premature base on your self education. You need to immerse yourself in the education process for 6 months to a year to get a handle on the entire real estate world. Small steps are necessary and when you are ready you will know it. If you are uncertain you are not ready and not fully educated.Of primary importance is that you go in with the full understanding of the risk and worse case scenario are prepared to lose it all due to circumstances beyond your control. That is the reality of investment.You must also take advice with a grain of salt. The vast majority on here have been successful to varying degrees. There are many, many more investors that tried and failed that are not on this site. They will not be providing you a balance to the advice you receive here. Do not get caught up in our enthusiasm. Educate yourself.

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Well, I think until you figure out what you want to do, that you should continue to whittle down the various options. Buying something for the sake of buying is to be avoided. For example: Do you want to buy something and then never think about it again until the check comes in? Or do you love the idea of transforming a wreck into something nice? Do you hate taking complaint calls? Then you might not want to be a landlord. Or if you are, you want to be sure you have good property management to take those complaint calls. Are you really good at cold calling? If so, then you might be a good wholesaler, uncovering off-market deals.In other words, define what you like and don't like, and what you're good at and bad at, and then define your goals a little bit by eliminating strategies that require you do what you're not good at. You'll be a lot more successful if you do something you enjoy, or that gives you satisfaction when you look at your income statement or balance sheet. Or whatever floats your particular boat. So I wouldn't worry about what other people like and do well, I'd worry about what you like and do well. Take the time to define what most appeals to you, and you'll be more successful at what you eventually choose. You have plenty of time to read and read some more while you save money.

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Hi Charlie, Yes, that was another possible avenue I was considering. I went to school at UMass Amherst, so I was thinking that perhaps purchasing a rental property for students might be a good way to go. I remember I rented in college and I went through this organization called Kamins, I believe. I never saw the owner of the property once. Kamins handled all the business side of things. It was in 2005 and each of my roomates (3 of them) were paying something like 350 a month. That's only 12,600 a year. Not a lot of passive income on that, when you consider what the mortgage would be. Ideally, what I'd like is to be able to get something like 200 dollars passive income per week, so that I could quit my day job, and start my own woodworking company. I don't think I'd be able to make it without some passive income coming in. I would make money from the woodworking company eventually, but I'd need some passive income to sustain myself while I waited to make a profit from the company. 200 dollars per week is 9600 per year. I wonder how many single family homes or 3 deckers I'd need to achieve that level of passive income. Probably quite a few. If the house I was renting was 150k, and I had a 30 year mortgage on it, then I'd be looking at 705 per month. I'd need to put aside some amount for expenses, and insurance, and repairs, so say 200 per month, so I'd be receiving 1050 per month, so I'd be making 100 dollars passive income per month. Haha. I guess that isn't going to cut it. :-)Well, I'd need 8 SFHs to pull in 200 per month. So that's why triple deckers seemed more attractive. More cash flow. If I could purchase a triple decker where frat row used to be, then I might be able to net some cash flow. Craig, yes, I'd probably just buy and hold. I don't think I'd be interested in flipping.

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I saw a few mention in here you might be looking into turnkey. If you are looking to invest out of state I would suggest reading the following:The Best Types of Markets for Profitable Turnkey PropertiesandWhat to Ask When Working With a Turnkey Provider

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After about a year of reading, listening to, and researching everything I could about real estate I met someone at a local networking event who wanted to sell their 3-family in Worcester. The property barely needed any work and had two units rented. About 45 days after meeting the guy I closed on the property and moved into the vacant unit. I paid $235k with ~$8k down on an FHA and bring in $1950 with the other two units, which cash flows about $20/month while living there. I'm fixing up my unit and will move out soon and get ~$1100 which will be pure cash flow.Just keep it up man! Spend an hour a day learning something new about real estate and most importantly NETWORK! Go to every Meetup group and local REIA meeting you can. The hardest part is finding a good deal right now. It will be very unlikely that you will find a good multi deal on the MLS so I'd recommend sending letters to high-equity multi family owner lists.Keep that up and you'll have no problem getting a deal by August of next year!

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Thanks Ann! You're right. I do need to whittle down some options. Hi Steve - Yes, I've been meaning to go to a Mass Landlords meeting. I think it would be very helpful to get an idea of what other people are doing in Mass. I think I would need to self-manage at first, because I don't think I'd be able to afford help, and I also think self-managing would help me to learn the ins and outs of REI. There will probably be a pretty steep learning curve, and if I have someone else manage it, I'd be missing out on a lot RE lessons, I suppose. Also, if I don't do it myself, down the road I wouldn't be able to necessarily tell if a RE manager was doing a good job, unless I've done the same job that that person is doing. How much net profit per month do you think a 3 decker could realistically bring in? Like 300 per month? I'm not sure how much rents generally are for those units.

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@Tom Jones One of the landlord clubs is Mass Landlords which is a great club to join. Also, Northern Worcester County Landlords Association which I think is in Fitchburg. You seem to be on the right track.... Do you plan on self managing?

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Great. Thanks all! Maybe I can do this. I was considering investing in a property around the Assumption area as well. I actually went to school there as well as UMass. I did a little research and it seemed like, although there are some students who live off campus, for the most part, Assumption students mainly seem to be on campus. I'm not intimately familiar with Worcester, and which areas are good vs bad. I'm sure if I researched it a bit more I could figure out good neighborhoods to rent from. I suppose the WPI area would be another thing to consider. My friend who I used to work with said that he purchased tenement 3 decker houses and he did really well doing this. I know there's a landlording club in Worcester. I have been dragging my feet about attending, but I don't know why. I should probably just go and meet some people who landlord in reality and pick there brains a bit about how they manage their REI properties.

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There are a thousand and one ways to make money in real estate. Everyone will say theirs is the best, because it's worked well for them. My advice is to buy a house that you can afford, local to you, that will cash flow. Then manage. You will learn more about REI - including what floats your boat and what doesn't - buy screening tenants, writing mortgage payment checks, finding vendors for repairs (and making some small repairs yourself), and paying bills on one rental than you can possibly imagine. And then you'll learn what you did right, what you did wrong, and what you want to do next. Congrats on the savings goal and I do hope you wind up taking action.