I'm new to real estate investing. I have $15,000 to work with.

[Charles Lewis Pinto]

I have saved $15,000 so far, and I plan to continue saving. I would like to invest in single family homes in Montana, while living in the Seattle area. I am new to all of this, and would appreciate some guidance. 

[Alan Brown]

Hey, @Charles Lewis Pinto!  Good idea.  Do you own a home yet?  If you have a solid job on the west side, it could be that your strongest strategy might be best served by starting your investing there, where the leveraging might be much more powerful for the moment than in MT, particularly because your leveraging power as owner occupant can be the best of all leverage.  

Yes, House Hacking!! If you haven’t heard of that yet go back and listen to as many BP podcasts as you can!

Best option:  (I know it’s not single family, but it’s a super fast way to grow your equity AND passive income) buy a multi family (2,3, or 4 plex) as an owner occupant, live in it for the obligatory year, then buy another, until you just have to have your own house.  By then, if you’ve done it right your cash flow and equity should be good enough to make the jump to Montana.

Option 2: owner occupy a single family or condo (all of these options , including multi family) can usually be done with a low down payment FHA loan which also allows gift funds if you need and can get help From a family member) — depending on where you are in the Seattle area, your appreciation might be strong enough in a couple of years to borrow against (or sell) and begin stretching out a bit.

Then it’s all about finding an excellent property manager in MT, and if you can’t find one where you want, look somewhere else!  Management is super key to success in long distance investment.  Way more important than the property or anything else!

Good luck!