Buy myself a primary residence? Or Investment house first?

[Rick Alvi]

Hey guys,

I live in a hot market (Houston to be exact). I'm torn between moving out of my apartment and buying a SFH or investing in a rental SFH or other property in a different market (such as the Midwest). There are two main issues in my situation. 1) I may not live in Houston in a couple of years because I may move overseas for a career change 2) It doesn't make sense to keep paying an apartment and not build equity on my own primary residence. But in regards to #2, I hear that unless I plan to live in my primary residence for 5 years or more it doesn't make sense with all the costs associated with buying a house and selling it later down the road if I do move overseas. The point is, I'm not 100% certain on where I'm going to be living but I am 100% certain that I want to put my money where it makes sense from an investment standpoint. Thanks so much, I have less than a years experience in studying real estate but I'm researching daily and plan to make my first investment sometime in 2016.

[Logan Allec]

Why not do both?  Buy a 3- or 4-unit property and live in one of the units rather than throwing money away on rent every month.