Excited noob here looking to start in Knoxville, TN! Please Read!

[Chaz Allman]

Hello BP superstars (and rising stars)! 

First of all, thanks BP for all of the knowledge, great stories, and for the encouragement to be cautiously courageous in real estate! This place gets my blood bumping with excitement every day. So many of you are so stinking smart.

My name is Chaz and I’m 25 years old. I have no hands on experience in real estate. That’s right, zero. In fact, I haven’t even purchased a personal residence (which I know may be a debatable topic). Currently, I am a tenant myself here in Knoxville, TN. I’ve been reading everything I can get my hands on about building wealth and real estate. I am self-employed and I love everything about it. The grind is so much fun and still have much time to spare! Fortunately, I have the liberty of listening to BP podcast all day while I do my work, which only makes it all even better. I couldn’t be more pumped about preparation to get my first deal!

My goal in real estate (like most) is to achieve financial freedom. My long term goal is 20k m/o passive income upon retirement (before age 60) from investment properties. I would love to be able to leave my children with much and enjoy life with them during their childhoods (not just when they are older with my grand kids). That being said, I don’t have much intention on quitting my day job at the moment since it produces great invest-able income at my stage in life. I have a lovely wife, one sweet baby boy, and one more on the way.

This leads me to my first investment question (man I really hope someone answers this because it's eating me) -- I'll be able to invest around $25-30k a year of liquid cash annually starting out. Obviously my options will grow as my knowledge and portfolio grow. My goal will be to buy and hold for passive income (either multi unit or SFH but totally open to opinions on that). Here is my question, would me buying a primary residence be the wisest first investment with a down payment of 20%? I'd likely have another $25-30 cash ready to go again within a year plus a possible home equity line of credit to stack. 

Thanks for much opportunity in advance!

Chaz Allman