First Buy and Hold, Raleigh NC

[Elijah Batkoski]

Hey BP Community,

I"m fresh out of college and looking to snag my first buy and hold property by no later than the end of 2015. This is a pretty lofty goal for me, but I think it could happen with good research and good strategy (and some help/advice from you all, of course). 

I make ~75K a year and have ~30K in student loan debt. I'm looking into purchasing either a condo, duplex, or SFH (open to any, depending on the market and deal I can find) which range anywhere from 180K-700K. I'm pretty interested in the idea of a condo in the downtown area, if anyone has any opinions on that?

I essentially would just like a brief analysis of my goal, ~40K is a lot to put on a down payment when you're only 23 (in my case, anyway), but my future, especially in real estate, is important to me, so I want to make the best decision.

My long term goal in real estate is to subsidize my current income (~10K/month) and also snag a couple vacation homes for the family, which is why I want to get started as early as possible and learn as much as I can about the industry.

Any comments/advice are surely welcome and feel free to message me or shoot me a colleague request!

Thanks everyone!