Buy or Invest First?

[Corben Briggs]

Quick question for any member! My girlfriend and I have been doing a lot of homework so that we can get into real estate investing ASAP. Naturally are first step is to find out where to begin. We are both pretty young (23/24 years old) living in Southern California and have little capital saved up to invest since we graduated from college only a couple of years ago. Her thought is to first purchase a house for us to own/live in and house hack it to lower our rent prices that we pay (we both currently rent). From there she thinks we should do some rehab work to add value and continue to save more money to invest in another home for us to live in while renting out the previous house completely for passive income. I myself am looking to purchase a cheaper & out of state single family to start our real estate portfolio as an invest that will give us some passive income right away. From yo guys experience, which idea would you recommend as a couple that is just starting off? Any feedback is appreciated! Cheers!