Looking to make my first real estate investment- analysis paralysis

[Jake Yates]

I bought my first home in the summer of ‘22 and fixed it up to where I could, if i so choose, sell it for about 30k profit this summer (after two years to avoid capital gains tax) from what I invested into it. I currently have a cash pile of about 50k and am trying to determine the wisest/most efficient first step in my investment career. I’ve been reading and listening to podcasts and honestly am overwhelmed with how to proceed- choosing the wisest strategy when there are many different ways to proceed.

My current thoughts are to:

Buy a distressed property now under an LLC (although would be higher interest rates), fix it up, refinance, rent it out. Repeat (BRRR). And meanwhile, sell my primary residence this summer when two years have reached maturity, buy another primary residence (ideally a 2-4 unit small multifamily) rehab/refinance/rent it out while house hacking. Repeat the buying/selling of primary residence every two years while saving up for DP for separate rental properties as I can. I don't know if this is too ambitious/naive or actually possible.

OR (spitballing)

hang onto my primary properties every two years and instead of selling them, turning them into rentals. I understand some properties are much better rentals than others so I may be answering my own questions here as it’ll depend on whether my primary property would be a good rental or not. But the draw of leverage over time (putting 40k into 200k house that will be worth 400k in 20-30 years) has me reluctant to sell any properties that I may come to own.

I am leaning towards the first strategy but am open to any ideas or advice as I don’t have anyone personally to ask questions/bounce ideas off of- just books, the internet, and bigger pockets lol