First House or First Investment Property?

[Ken Barrett]

I apologize in advance if this topic is covered elsewhere... I've searched around and all I've found is a topic about purchasing a vacation home instead of an investment property. But here's my situation... I'm a 25 year old college graduate with a good job in Accounting. I'm wanting to start investing early, but I've been told that I should buy my own first house and settle in before starting to purchase investment properties. This advice was given by a successful real estate/business investor that lives in the same city as I do, to his own son as well as to me. It should be noted that I live in an Indiana city of 100k people, so this isn't a "I live in LA and couldn't afford a house even if I wanted to" situation. Is this advice that I should take to heart, or is owning investment property while renting acceptable? Also, feel free to ask any questions about myself, my strategy, or my finances that would help respond to the topic. Thanks everyone!