Purchasing First Property vs. Stockpiling Cash

[Caleb Long]

I have just started my real estate journey within the last 3 months, and have been consuming as much information as possible to learn about real estate.  I have also begun putting a % of my paycheck into a rental account so that I can save up for a down payment on my first investment property.  I will be partnering with one of my friends so that we will have enough cash to pay the down payment, closing costs, have adequate reserves, etc.

My question is - Is it better to purchase your first property using the majority of your savings ($10-20K), or continue saving cash so that you can purchase a better/larger property later on (a few years down the road)?  What kind of timeline would you recommend to avoid jumping in to early vs waiting too long?