Looking for some strategy direction

[Phillip Overpeck]

Hey everyone. I am brand new to real estate investing. I haven't even made my first deal yet, but I know this is something I want to do for long term wealth.

I am hoping to get some guidance on which strategy would be a good place for me to start.

I have just over 20k in cash that I can leverage in a deal immediately. I should be able to save roughly 1k a month of my salary. I am located in the Raleigh Durham area of NC. I am also relatively new to the area, so I don't have a great feel for the local market.

From what I can see, it appears to be highly competitive at the moment, and there aren't any turn key properties at my price point.

For all the experience investors out there,

If you found yourself in this situation, which strategy would you pursue?

[Mike D'Arrigo]

@Phillip Overpeck I'm not an expert on the Raleigh Durham market but I'm familiar with it enough to know that it is probably out of your range if you have only $20K or so to work with. On top of your down payment, you will have lender fee's and title/escrow fee's and then of course you should always have reserves for unexpected expenses and vacancies. You might want to look at more affordable markets. Personally, I would recommend buying a better asset class in a different market than buying a lower end class of property in a more expensive market. Whatever direction you go, don't buy in cheap, low end neighborhoods just because they are affordable.