Newbie from CA, about to purchase a rental in WA

[Joanne Lo]

Hi everyone! I am new to real estate investing, and I very much appreciate the information and support from BP. I own a house in Oakland, CA, and it has about $150k equity in it. I am looking to purchase a single family home for rental in the Kirkland/Renton area in WA. I picked that area because I have friends there who would let me stay for free when I need to do any renovation/paper-signing trips. I have around $40k in saving that I am planning to use as a 20% down for an investment loan. I know some of you are probably cringing at this point at me using my own money and doing 20% down, but I feel like that's all I can do without investor connections or help from family. After purchasing the property, I am thinking about getting the equity out of my house to fix it up. So far the best cap rate that I have been getting is around 8%. Does this plan sound way too risky to anyone?