Opinions?? Start Small NOW or Start Bigger LATER ??

[Brian Spear]

Howdy Folks:

I wanted to bring my current situation to the forum to see if the community could provide some opinions on how one would act if he/she were in my shoes.

The question posed is whether to start small NOW or start bigger LATER.

These are relative terms, so let me be more specific. 

The ultimate goal is to reach financial independence. For me, that is defined as $120,000 annual passive income by 2025 (age 40).

I will be investing exclusively in Multi-Family APTs, and have been studying REI for a while.

With a 6 figure nest egg, I can either purchase a ~$500,000 garden apt NOW in a mediocre market, or wait roughly 12 months and purchase a 7 figure APT in a what I would consider to be a better market.

Waiting would allow me to take more of an advantage of the economies of scale, but I would be sacrificing a year of quality %returns. While waiting, downpayment funds would be parked in a low-interest bearing account. 

The only market with which I am currently familiar is the NW Chicagoland area. I'd prefer to avoid this market due to population decline and additional factors outlined throughout the forums. If I were to hold off ~12 months, I would compile a more substantial downpayment and hone in on my preferred market (I'm looking at Houston).

So, based on the above, if you were me would you:

Start Small NOW (in a mediocre market) of Start Bigger LATER (in a preferred market)??

Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.