Looking to start investing in the Louisville area

[Jordan Miller]

Hi BP! 

So, I've read quite a bit about real estate over the past few months and I'm really wanting to pull the trigger and get my first rental property soon and was looking for suggestions on where to begin, or if i should buy a primary residence first.

A little about me:

I currently live in Louisville, KY. I'm 24, I work a pretty decent job that allows me to save a bit each week after paying my bills. I have ~65K in cash, 11K in a Roth IRA(which I dont really want to pull out) and ~54K between my savings and brokerage account. I live in an apartment with my girlfriend currently where we split the rent of $700/mo. We have been looking at houses as a primary residence as well, so for the sake of this, let's assume 20K of what I have would go towards my down payment for a primary residence. So with 30-35K to invest, how would you start? Or should I hold off on primary residence? Or hold off on rental property? My goal with rentals long term is to build enough of a portfolio up to be able to replace my income from my job and just have the financial freedom to be able to travel/be worry free.

I am trying to decide between starting off in Louisville or right across the bridge in New Albany, IN(properties are cheaper there as opposed to Louisville). My main questions for starting out would be if I should I go with multi family or single family and should I go class B or class C properties? I'm leaning towards class C but I was curious about what kind of tenants I would be dealing with and how difficult it is to find tenants in areas that are a bit higher in crime but not completely terrible. I've been looking at listings about every day over the past few months and theres a ton of move in ready/currently occupied homes in New Albany for around 40-60K(again, the areas these homes are in aren't quite the best). I've also debated on looking more towards the UofL campus as well, theres quite a few duplexes that are reasonably affordable, but can't decide which is the best place to begin. So with the info given, what's my best route? Put 20% down on one of these cheaper homes? Save for a nicer property in a better area? Put the majority/all of what I have into a multi family? FWIW I plan on using a property manager. Thanks in advance everyone, and I look forward to learning with you all!

[Jordan Moorhead]

I would start in Louisville and start with a small multifamily that you could rent and live in one unit.

You’ll almost eliminate your living expense, save a ton of money, learn how to purchase rentals, learn how to be a landlord and will also get in for around 5% down.

In my opinion this is the best way to get started for so many reasons.

Let me know if you want to talk or need any help. I’m from Louisville and buy rentals there too.