Clear debt or first investment?
Hello BP community!
Just recently learned of BP from a close friend. I was discussing with him my current situation and he recommended I reach out to the community for some guidance.
I graduated from college in May of 2019. I immediately moved back home for the first 12 months out of school to get myself financially stable (typical story here). In doing so, I've accumulated $30K in savings, and my student loan debt totals ~$27K. My student loans are all federal with varying interests rates of 3-5% on each individual loan.
I was lucky enough that my university taught an intro to real estate investing course that I took my junior year which peaked my interest. I frequently watch a lot of the folks on YouTube who are popular in the real estate investment space; however, I feel a lot of the time these guys are more selling the dream for views rather than giving solid advice (no disrespect to any of them, just how I feel). I'm interested in the space as I have an understanding of how real estate as an asset performs over the long-term, and how it is an amazing vehicle if one is interested in accumulating wealth while capitalizing on cashflows.
Now that the backstory is out of the way, I have been tossing the idea around in my head for about two months now of whether or not I should use the money I've accumulated to rid myself of my student loan debt, OR, use this money as a down payment on my first investment property.
BP community, can you please provide me with guidance for my current situation?
Thank you all so much in advance.