Hello from NE Oklahoma

[Wesley Childers]

I just wanted to introduce myself. I am Wesley and I'm from a small town called Miami (My-am-uh), Oklahoma. I have always wanted to get into real estate and more specifically rentals. I want to build up a rental portfolio that can provide me with the income I'll need to retire somewhere between the age of 50-60. I am 32 right now so I still have a few years to build.

Recently I read rich dad poor dad. This has motivated me to stop setting on the couch and saying "I'm going to invest one day." So now I'm buying books and reading them to better prepare myself. Currently I'm reading: The Book on Rental Property Investing, by Brandon Turner. I feel like there is a lot of useful information in this book and its going to take me 2 or 3 pass through's to understand everything well enough. 

One thing that has me worried is the housing market in my town is very bad. Property values don't appreciate much if at all. The town is very poor with no positive outlook for future jobs. In fact from 1990 to current day the overall population of the town has gone down. 13,400 to 13,200. I feel like maybe getting into the real estate market in my home town might not be such a good idea. So one question this brings up is Missouri. Miami Oklahoma is in the very NE corner of the state. So this means I'm only about 30-40 minutes away from Joplin Missouri. This city is growing at a decent rate. Went from about 45,000 in 2000 up to about 55,000 today. So is it a good idea to start my journey in real estate investing in a different state even if it is only 30-40 minutes away? How will taxes affect the cash flow potential? Maybe these are questions better left for someone who is more advanced, but its the main question on my mind right now.