Putting dollars to work while waiting for a deal

[Colleen Martin]

Hello BP community! My husband and I have been convinced of the wisdom of investing in real estate, but I'm wondering what to do in the meantime. We're actively networking and searching for deals, but of course this takes time (especially for our first one). I really think the concept of having your money work for you makes a lot of sense, and my question is: do you have any suggestions with what to do with your money in the mean-time while you're looking for a deal? I'm wondering if it makes sense to simply keep the money easily accessible in our bank accounts, or if there's a way we can put those dollars to work while we wait for a deal. I've done a lot of reading on real estate itself in the last year or so, but I'm pretty clueless about other avenues of investing (especially shorter term ones). Thanks in advance!