New Member from WA state, Snohomish/King County

[Roger Vi]

Hey all! Been browsing the forums for a few weeks now absorbing some knowledge. I though I'd post a new member intro to see who I can connect with locally...

I'm not a PRO by any means. I bought my first SF home in Jan 2013. I started renting it out and now I am on the market for a duplex/triplex/quadplex. Been searching for months and realized I am not really sure what I'm looking for.

I started being interested in real estate with a "Buy-Hold" strategy in mind. I want to build a solid portfolio of single/multi family rentals so that one day (20+ years from now) I can retire from my job and live off the rental income. I have not looked into many properties with high cash-flows; this is mainly because they are not readily available in my area. Actually, I didn't even know it was possible for a home to meet the "50% rule" until I came across this site.

So I've been searching for homes in my area the past year. I'm planning to use a 20% down owner occupied conventional loan to get myself into my first multi-family. I want to know if there are others in my area with the same situation or have been in this situation. I am mixed right now on whether to put 80K down on a home in this area and hope the equity build up is worth it, or to use the same money to buy something with more cash flow in another area.

Anyways, NICE TO MEET YOU ALL!