First steps with OOS REI

[Kyle Smith]

Rookie question here. Long story short, I plan on moving in May but won't know where until mid-late March. I don't know for sure at the moment, but depending on where I move, my employer may provide housing. However, if my employer doesn't provide housing, I'll be looking at purchasing my first primary residence. I would like to do the BRRRR strategy but would be open to and even prefer something on the simple side for my first property.

My difficulty is this: I'd rather not put my money towards an investment property and then be needing that same money to purchase my primary residence, so I was thinking I could find a partner who would want to let me find the deals and they can front the money for a downpayment and we split the profit. However, I'm thinking it may be hard to find a partner if I don't already have a team in place. If that's the case, I should get a team in place first, right? At the same time, I don't want to set up a team if I am not able to make a purchase for another 6 months, I respect other people's time too much for that and don't want to make anyone feel like they're wasting their time.

Also, when looking for a partner, do I look for the partner first or the market first? My preferred market is in Columbus, OH, but I imagine I'm going to want to hold that loosely until I find a partner?

Thanks for the help everyone!