Aspiring Investor from Atlanta Intro/Seeking Advice

[Akeem Akanni]

Greetings All,

I'm a new member from Atlanta and am excited to finally have the courage to post. I actually joined BP about 4 years ago but was so overwhelmed by the huge amount of info that I decided real estate was not for me lol. Anyway I'm back and hope to become a successful real estate investor someday.

Here's a little about me. I am in my mid-30s and live in Acworth, GA. I work full time as a Project Engineer in Kennesaw and also serve part-time in the GA National Guard. Regarding real estate, I have no experience and own no rental property. I do however own the home I currently reside in.

My home is a 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom house I bought 2 years ago that I have been house hacking with family the past 2 years. The house hacking allowed me to lower my housing expense to about $200 a month. I have also been saving pretty steadily for the past 2 years and now have a little under 30k in the bank. In less then a month my last family member will move out and I'll be paying the full $900 mortgage again. I am currently sure about what to do when my cousin moves out.

Cash flow and freedom is the ultimate reason I am turning to real estate. I am single with no family and a very disciplined saver. I am confident I can save up at least $100k within the next 2 years. If I do, would it be realistic to find a multi-family property that can pay me at least $40k a year? It seems feasible but it may also be another excuse I'm telling myself to avoid getting started now.

Alternatively, I could get another place now and rent out my current house. However, I would only be interested in at least a 3 or 4-plex and it would need to be within 15 miles of my current job in Kennesaw. Is that realistic? My area does not seem to be ripe with multifamily homes.

So to recap are any of my options above realistic? If cash flow is the ultimate goal should I go the Cardone route and save as much money as possible for the bigger deal in the future or start small and trade up in time? If I start small and trade up over time, wouldn't I be burning a lot of money on costs associated with buying and selling properties? It seems to me starting small and trading up will take a lot longer than saving up for one big deal.

I apologize for the long post but these questions have been bouncing around my head for weeks and I was hoping posting on here would give me some advice or guidance on how to proceed. I look forward to hearing an advice from more experienced investors and meeting and networking with you all! Thanks for reading and have a great evening!

Regards,

Akeem