New investor in Philadelphia , PA area!!

[Tu Le]

Hi My name is Tu le.  I live in Philadelphia, PA south philly area. looking to into invest into real estate . I just change my job from full time to part time to focus more on rental properties single or multi units.  I have been listening to bp podcast , YouTube anything I can to learn more about real estate. I have been really motivated and learn a lot just being here in bp for just a couple days. Next week I will be attending real estate class and real estate meet in the community to learn more . I currently own a house and have have a HELOC of $200k . But if I refinance again I'm sure it will be way more than that. I have about $50k cash ready to invest! Im looking for real estate agents to help me find good deals and where to starts. Also I'm new to this and would love to have a mentor to teach me and show me the road. Im a fast learner and willing to put the time and hour out for anyone to learn . Any advice is appreciated to start a new chapter of my life for my family . Thank you !

[John Knisely]

Hey @Tu Le, welcome to Biggerpockets. My first piece of advice is don't make any drastic lifestyle changes before getting some properties under your belt. If you can support your lifestyle and invest with your hours part time then good for you, be conservative though. There are a lot of great REIAs in the area such as DIG, RING and other groups, check out meetup.com for more info. Great way to meet local investors and build relationships.

I'd focus on the first rental you want to acquire and start to narrow it down from there. SFR, MFR? A, B, C class neighborhood? Cashflow, appreciation or a bit of both? Self-managed or property management? Rent ready or fixer upper?

Happy to answer and questions you might have, feel free to send me a message.