Newbie first time investor

[Bradley M LeMasters]

I am in the Cast Guard and stationed Cleveland OH. I have one more year here. I am looking to purchase my first home in the next few months in the north ridgeville or Avon lake area. I will be using a VA loan and living in it for a year. After I transfer I would like to rent it out. Places I am looking at are about $170,000. I am looking to put $0 down at the moment. If anyone has any advice they would be willing to share with someone who is just barely figuring things out, I would greatly appreciate it!

[Steve Rozenberg]

First thing I would do as others in here have stated is figure out "WHY" you are doing this. Once you know that and you know your end goal then you work backwards. The goal has to have a finite destination and time limit on it.
For example you may say your goal is 20 houses in 20 years (paid off) earning $20,000 per month.. (20,20,20 goal).
Now you know where you're going and the timeframe for this to happen. From here you can build out your strategy, for example here you would want to have the 20 properties purchased the first 10 years so that they can use the final 10 years to pay themselves off. This means that you have to buy 2 properties per year which means you have to close on a property every 6 months which means that you have to find a property in 3 months to have it on the market and rented the following 3 months.
And the properties need to have a final cashflow of $1,000 per month after all expenses are paid. This will dictate where you purchase and look for properties based on that number alone.
My point is that you always start with the end in mind and work it backwards, this creates the strategy (Buy and hold, flip, Wholesale, Notes) which will be driven by the tactic (SFR, MFR, Mobile homes, Short term rental etc)
I always coach people and explain that the property is actually the last piece of the puzzle not the first.

Hope this helps