20 year old in Chicago with 30k to invest

[Raj Patel]

Hello, my name is Raj Patel. I am 20 years old. I live in Chicago. All the properties here are very expensive. I have 30 thousand to invest. I have thought about buying a quad with 203k loan so I can wrap my rehab into the loan and still only pay 3.5%. Another thought was buying late in the year so, I would get the property tax from the previous owner. This would help eliminate some costs. I was wondering what you would recommend. I don't want to invest long distance since this would be my first investment. Thank you for all your help.

[Jason Marcordes]

@Raj Patel I would agree with @John Warren....stay away from 203K if possible. I would take that $30K and buy a nice 3-4 flat, owner occupied, in the western suburbs (Berwyn/Cicero/etc). This should leave you with $5+ grand in reserves in case anything happens. This will be much safer than investing in the south side at this point in your REI career.