Live for free or start investing?

[John Paul Whaley]

I am currently living in my parents’ old house and not paying rent. I have a good job and am banking every single cent I make. I am also ready to start investing. I have enough down-payment money saved up and have analyzed a few deals that I feel fairly confident about. My strategy would be to put 10-15% down on a primary residence, live in it for a year, fix it up a bit, then start renting it out after one year. I would take out an investment loan but I don’t have 20-25%, as I live in an expensive area (DC).

What should I do? Again, I am ready to start investing, but I have a great thing going on for the time being, living for free. What would you do if you were in my shoes? Continue living for free and saving tons of money, or jump into REI?