High earner-ex realtor trying to decide what type & where to make my first investment

[Anthony Minervini]

Hello All!

I’m an ex realtor who also has some experience working for a private equity group for a short time before I got a really good gig in a completely unrelated industry that will allow me to have options when investing. I want to know everyone’s opinions on what they would do in my shoes. I’m pretty busy with my job as it’s a 24/7 industry, I don’t have time to handle aggressively hunting for off market deals however I could still do it with mailers, as I’m in no rush to purchase right away. I don’t know if I should invest in the Jersey market and put maybe 20-50% down on something, make less cash flow and make more appreciation, or every two years or so maybe buy something fully cash (my own $) in the Midwest let’s say 5-10 units and make more cash flow with no debt as with the income I make I can just save and buy more, don’t necessarily need to leverage in some markets. Although I love my job , I am motivated in 10-15 years or so to retire with real estate. What are your guys opinions ?