New Member Looking to Start Investing Portland OR

[Andre M.]

Hello everyone! My name is Andre. Recently I started a new career, got married, had a child, and got another one on the way. We are also single income. In the midst of all of this as I'm learning more about the way the world works, I'm realizing that the my 401k is probably not gonna cut it. So, I'd like to learn about real estate investing. 

To start things off, here is my first question.

It is my understanding that at this point I should focus on saving for our first investment/rental property and quit and gut the 401k. But we also feel the need to live in at least some sort of house, nothing big or fancy. So, should we be renting smallish basic houses around here and put our first chunk of cash (that possibly we might be able to put together in the next year or so) into an investment property? Or should we put it into our own primary residence (which is also gonna be pretty basic)? Or should we do a live-in flip deal to start things off first? 

[Steve Moody]

@Andre M. if I was in your situation I'd look for a multi-family (2-4 plex). Live in one unit and rent the other(s). You could slowly fix up the one you're living in, then when there's a vacancy, move into it, finish off any reno you couldn't do while living there (bathroom/kitchen), and rent the updated one for more. Rinse and repeat. The biggest thing you will need to do is make sure that the numbers make sense whether or not you're living there. You wouldn't want to be paying more per month AND be a landlord at the same time. Run the numbers, and make sure it works. 

FWIW, if your employer is matching any amount of the 401k I'd keep putting in at least the minimum amount for the match. There's no reason to pass up on free money.