What would you do if you were starting out with $300k in capital?

[Fareed Zahid]

Hi guys,

New member here who's been lurking and reading on BP for a while now. I'm liquidating some assets overseas and bringing the money here to the US (NY to be exact) and would like to get involved in the world of real estate investing. At first I thought I would buy my first deal cash and look to flip it, but I'd also be interested in utilizing hard money to do multiple deals at once. Not sure what the prevailing opinion on this strategy is, but I'd love to hear your thoughts. 

I have friends and business associates who invest in real estate, and as I'm sure you can imagine, everyone would like me to invest capital and let them do the dirty in return for a small percentage of the profits. I'd like to work with some of the more trusted people in my circle to develop a better understanding of the industry and narrow down exactly what my path in the real estate investing world will be, but even starting off I'd like to be more hands on. 

My purpose for starting this thread would be to ask those who might be interested and willing to share how they would have started off if they had $300k available to them as a beginner investor. What is the best way to build knowledge and maximize returns with this sum of money in your opinion? I am interested in buying and flipping to start off but as I become financially stronger I'd like to rehab and hold - specifically larger multi-family units. 

Everyone's responses and opinions on this topic are going to be different, and I look forward to learning from your respective invaluable experiences.