Deciding what type of investment property to pursue!

[Hunter Scott]

Hi All,

I am brand new to real estate and looking for my first purchase. At this point, I have just been trying to educate myself as best as possible. I started off reading @Scott Trench's book Set for Life, and now I am about half way through @Brandon Turner's book The Book on Rental Property Investing.

Following the principles in Set for Life, I have taken a job at a start-up in Austin, Texas! This job has much more potential for income growth, and on top of that I believe I will enjoy the work more than my current position! However, when looking for properties in downtown Austin near my work, my wife and I have been facing several challenges due to the high prices.

We first wanted to buy a small multifamily home, but the prices for these would be beyond want we could afford month to month if the other unit(s) sat vacant. Second, we looked at a possible live in flip, but those type of properties are often being torn down for the land so that they can build new. For that reason, not sure a flip would make since in the area near my work. Finally, we thought about buying a condo for the purpose of living in it for the next year or two, and then renting it out for cash flow and future appreciation. The problem with this is it would still be expensive month to month while living in it.

Any advice on this is much appreciated! What do you all think would be the best option?