Young, mobile, rookie investors looking for market insights

[Account Closed]

Hi everyone!

My girlfriend and I are hoping to start our real estate investment journey in the next year or so and being young and mobile, we're looking for great cities to both live and invest in! We definitely value a fun place to live but also are looking for an area that we can build a strong investment portfolio for years to come. 

Our goal is to house hack our first deal, renting out the other rooms/units and taking advantage of a low down payment FHA loan (considering 203K for potential rehabs?). After that, we plan to purchase cash flowing rentals in the area or neighboring cities that ideally that need some work. Cash flow is important to us but we're definitely willing to sacrifice some cash flow for an area with great potential.

So far we have our eyes on Nashville, Austin, Denver/Thornton/Aurora, Raleigh and would love any insights and pros/cons of investing in these markets. So far, we're realizing the high price points of these areas/bad price to rent ratios so would love any insight on specific areas in these markets or neighboring cities. We're also totally open to any other suggestions of markets to dive into! Thank you in advance for your feedback, we appreciate it:)

Ben