New Investor Hoping to House Hack in West Palm Beach, Florida

[Kevin Knox]

Hello all, my name is Kevin Knox and I'm starting to research the real estate game. 

For a bit of background I just graduate in May with an engineering degree from UF, and I was fortunate to begin a job in West Palm in July. I've been investing in the stock market for a while, but I do not like the volatility and the fact that nothing is guaranteed. At least in real estate people are under contract, even if they don't follow them. As a young man, I feel the best time to get started is now when I have lots of time to fix mistakes and have little responsibilities. 

In a dream come true scenario, I would start an LLC (for protection reasons, and personal reasons), and within the LLC buy a duplex where I can live in half and rent half to cover expenses. Expanding from that point on. I've done a fair amount of research on the topic and it seems like it can make a huge difference having a good lawyer/advisor to set up an LLC with or not. I'm hoping to use this website to network with the necessary people to reach my goals. Currently I'm thinking I could put down around $50k, but I don't know what that can get me. I don't want to be too leveraged, but I also have a solidly paying job, very few expenses, and a willingness to do a lot of work.

I'm looking for any advice, or if anyone has properties in the area that they would know about. Thank you for the help everyone!