Hungry Newbie in Southern Illinois and Yuba City, CA

[Branden Newman]

Hello everyone,

I just signed up with bigger pockets and am really grateful for such a great site.  It really seems like a perfect place to get started and really learn all you can before you start, which is what I needed.  

A little about my situation.  I am 22 years old, currently enlisted in the USAF and deployed overseas until the end of the year (2015).  Once I get back, I'll be busy with a leadership course and then leave for a year in Korea and am unsure of where I will be living after that. I understand being gone so much will be a huge obstacle to overcome, but I am very hungry for passive cash flow and really want to start my investing career while I'm younger.  

My current plan is to start with multi-family residential properties and buy around 50 units in the next ten years.  Hopefully after those ten years I will be producing a large enough stream of cash flow to live off of and start helping other investors finding properties by becoming an investor realtor.  I am open to moving on to commercial units once established, but I don't feel that would be  a good place for me to start right now.  

I do have a few questions and will appreciate any feedback I can get.  I don't know where (location) to start my investing career at.  My home is southern Illinois, which is a pretty rural area and I don't see as much potential for profit as other areas.  I presently reside in northern California but won't be stay there more than 6 months before I leave again. Should I start buying back home in Southern Illinois, in California, in a different location that I have no connection with but the potential is better,  or just wait until 2017 to start investing in the local area where I get moved to? 

Again, any input on how to start, where to start and who to start investing with is appreciated.  Thanks and have a great day.

[Branden Newman]

Hey thanks for the replies and encouragement.  I'm going to keep filtering though all the great information on here, until I find the right deal for me.  Unfortunately I can relate to the analysis paralysis.  I'm really leaning more towards starting in southern Illinois and if I decide to move my investing locations then I'll figure it out when the time comes.  I started talking to the banks back home to get financing approval and have found a couple duplexes that could work but not set on anything yet.  Hopefully much more to come.  Thanks for making me feel so welcome here on BP.  Really looking forward to working with you all.