First Step in Buying a Rental Property! (Military Edition)

[Jimmy Chung]

Hi, I'm a soon to be graduate from the United States Military Academy, and have my "Post Night" next week. This is where we choose the duty station we will be heading to. I have narrowed down my options to either Texas or Kansas, and wanted to get on the market to begin my real estate journey as soon as I got my post selection (no real estate experience besides reading books and listening to podcasts). My ideal plan was to buy out a multi-family home (duplex, triplex, or fourplex), and do a house-hack. I have started my searches in the neighboring towns of the post itself and I've been having a VERY tough time finding a single multi-family rental in either location. This has made choosing between the two duty stations difficult, so I wanted to get on the BiggerPockets forums to reach out for help in regards to a direction to head and advice in general.

[Jason Howell]

I really like your strategy. House hacking small multi-family is a great way to get started in real estate. However, I don't know if choosing your duty station based on the local real estate market is the best idea. I never served in the military, but I think I'd want to choose a duty station based on advancement opportunities and then build a real estate portfolio on the side. I'd suggest once you get to your duty station take some time to study the market, build your network (attend local REI meetings, talk to lenders and realtors, etc.), and save some extra money. Good luck and thank you for your service!

Btw, Kansas is a good size market and Texas is a huge market. If you need more detailed help, you might want to list exactly where in those states you are looking.