Financing First Property -- Dallas/Fort Worth Area

[Austin Bright]

Hi All. I'm trying to get into rental property investing in Dallas/Fort Worth. I'm facing a common barrier to entry, having little capital (about 11-12K). I'm looking for advice from local investors on the best path to take. 1. I ideally want to get into duplex investing -- I'd have to finance with an FHA loan and live on the property for a year. I am strongly attracted to the idea of renting the other half out to increase my equity at a faster rate than if I lived in a single family home for a year. Then use the increased equity as leverage going forward. However, given my capital situation, the best I could really do with 3.5% down is around 200k (assuming I can negatiote with the seller to cover closing costs). The DFW area doesn't really have duplexes in this price range (unless I want to live in an unsafe area). Is it better to concentrate on single family properties for the first year? If so, the only viable way to substanitailly increase equity in the first year to look for properties that need lots of repairs? Are there any DFW investors out there that can provide feedback? Thanks!