Advise me on my 1st investment! Lots of cash, what to do with it?

[Account Closed]

Hi all! I've been educating myself through audiobooks, podcasts, the forums, and webinars and I think I'm finally ready to get started! Just not quite sure where to begin..

About me:

• 794 credit score
• $150k liquid assets (in a mixture of ETFs, savings accounts, etc)
• I work as an engineer. My salary and frugal lifestyle allow me to save $3k a month, which I currently just dump into ETFs
• Currently live in Denver, CO (have previously lived in Chicago and Central IL, Houston TX, Cleveland OH, Iowa City & Cedar Rapids, IA)
• Looking to free-up probably ~$50k for now to invest in real estate

Goals:

• long term growth through using leverage to buy and hold rental properties
• early retirement when it conservatively makes sense (at 30 would be great :) - I'm 25 now)

Here's where you come in! I'm debating between a few different strategies to start out and would love input from knowledgeable BP-ers!

• Attempt to house-hack in Denver area (concerns me a little because the market is *hot* and hard to tell if it will keep rising at this rate. Also, high initial investment cost that may exceed the $50k I'm comfortable investing for now)
• Look out-of-state at one of the locations I'm familiar with. Houston stands out as a growing market, relatively low price-to-rent ratios and continued immigration of businesses and residents. Cleveland has lower entry point but it's been longer since I've lived there and seems to be less of a growing market
• Look out-of-state at various other markets that stand out for their combo of growth potential and low price-to-rent (e.g. Charlotte area)

Any and all help is much appreciated!