Next Step

[Stanly Hernandez]

I'm interested in a duplex-quad in the Los Angeles area. I attended a FIBI event and talked to an experienced investor about my idea of starting out with a duplex where I can live in one unit and rent the others. He said its a great idea to start off like that.There is one thing stopping me though... I don't know my next step! I read the Ultimate beginner's guide and lots of blogs here in BP, but I'm still lost. I might be lying to myself. I sometimes lose hope or just say to myself "give up". I've seen a couple of properties in realtor and zillow but everytime I call an agent I feel like they don't want to work with me. Maybe because i'm 21 years old ... I don't know. I have school loans, car note, bills and rent to pay. I don't have the 3.5% down payment that the FHA requires on a 350k(+) homes here in the L.A area. It's really expensive in this area.

So my question is: #1.Should I pay off my loans first?( witch will take approx 5 years to do so) Who knows how the market is gonna be in 5 years. The time to buy is now... right?

#2.Can I get a full loan that will cover the house and the down payment?

#3. The car that I bought might be a problem. I finance it for 72 months. I'm stuck with it now. Are there anyways to return it without hurting my credit?

Any advice is appreciated! I would love to get together with someone in my area to talk and might want to mentor me. Or over the phone if possible. Thanks!