New investor from the Dallas area.

[Isaac Barnett]

I commented on a couple of other local threads already, but wanted to say howdy myself. My wife and I just got serious about REI (she took lots of convincing). I just turned 30 and she is 29. We both have good jobs, but were looking for alternative retirement investment opportunities. We have about 4 months of debt payoff left until all we owe on is our personal home and a single car. At that point, we will be in a position to comfortably save about $50,000 over 36 months. My original thought was to invest in SFR's only because I considered them easier to sell if we ever chose to do so. But, it seems that it is often easier to get a good ROI and cashflow from MFR's so I may change the plan. 40 months seems like a lifetime, but I have a LOT to learn between now and then. We both live and die by the numbers, so I feel confident that when we do buy it will be a good buy. I am also planning on getting my RE agent license (part time) within the next year and applying all commissions to that savings to shorten the time frame if possible. I am hoping my market isn't really as highly priced as what I see on Zillow and Realtor and such, because most of those prices don't turn a profit with market rent. I am hoping that once I have more contacts in the industry (both from networking and from being an agent) that better priced properties will be easier to find. What advice would you give a novice like me?