Newbie introduction from Phoenix!

[Cory Palmieri]

Newbie here, came across Biggerpockets from a close friend. I’m a 30 year old Army Veteran and my day job is in Engineering. I’m giving myself a year to conduct research and stack up my savings for this new venture. I understand it is hard work, but I think the effort put in will be worth it based on everyone’s stories on this forum. I’m located in the Phoenix, AZ area and I want to start locally and expand from there.

I have an opportunity to purchase my first home, I'm an Army Veteran and plan on using my VA loan. I'd like to stop renting myself and have my own property and a garage. My current plan is to purchase a 3bdrm home with the intention of renting it out when I'm ready to upgrade to a bigger property.

Upon learning more about the real estate business, and bigger pockets; a lot of sources recommend going the duplex/multiplex route. Would it be counterproductive for me to purchase a single family home instead of the duplex? I’d love to hear your personal stories on this subject.

[Jake Kain]

@Cory Palmieri

Welcome to the BP! You're in the right place to get started and learn as much as you can about this business.

Appreciate your service! It's always good to see fellow Veterans getting into investing (Go Army!). You are on the right path, start local, learn, network, grow and expand from there. The VA loan is an incredible tool and can really help launch your investing career. I have used my VA loan multiple times and it has been a tremendous help in my journey. There is absolutely nothing wrong with starting with a SF over a small MF. Our market is tough to find a small MF that makes sense and is something you would want to live in as well. We have been in 3 SF over the past 3 years and have done incredibly well with each. Now we are acquiring MF in a different market (still AZ just outside the greater Phoenix area).

We have an amazingly collaborative community here in Phoenix. There are all sorts of meetups all over the valley on any other niches in Real Estate. I run my own monthly meetup called FREEdM and we just launched a subgroup that will be specific to Veterans and the benefits available to them. I will include the links to our next events for you to check out! I will shoot you a request so we can connect further!

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