Graduated College, 22 yo, new here, current climate of investing

[Julian Maso]

Hi, my name is Julian and I am new (and excited to be) here. I recently graduated college with a Mechanical Engineering degree and was fortunate enough to find a job. I do love occupation that I'm in, but truthfully after only one month here i realized that i dont want to work a 9-5 for the rest of my life for someone else. I don't mean to sound snarky, but i would rather put my efforts toward improving my Pockets than someone else's. 

With that being said. I have a little bit of money saved away, enough for a 300,000 house with 15-20% down. My questions are these:

Should i spend all of my savings on the down payment if i want to get into investing in real estate as early as possible? I have a steady income, but always having savings is a good thing. Especially with the way things are in the world right now (COVID), are properties still being rented out as often as before. I wouldn't know since i don't have the resources to know this. Also, i think this is the more important "sub-question:" With some colleges going to partly online / partly in-person classes, would it be advisable to invest in college housing rather than normal residing citizen housing.

I live near a college campus, is it advisable to buy a duplex as a first investment and "house hack" for some time. Rather than this, should i stay in my 1325 $/mo apartment for 2 years (instead of 1) and save up more money before i begin investing.

I know some about real estate, more than the average 22 year old i would assume, but in these forums i probably know the least. I'm conservative with my money so the usual investments i make consist of stocks and retirement mutual fund accounts. 

This is all i could think of at this time, i am excited to be here and be apart of this community.

-Julian

[Roy Gamiz]

@Julian Maso

If I had it to do all over again, I would house hack as soon as possible. I'm 40, married with 2 kids and one on the way. It will be much more difficult to house hack as you get older.

You can get into a primary residence with 3-5% down but will need to pay mortgage insurance with this route. Despite paying PMI you can still keep some cash in reserve with this route. If you go this route, be selective with the duplex or triplex you go with. Remember what students like to rent and find a property that meets that criteria or consider making updates after purchasing a property.

I have several properties in the Baylor bubble that I rent out to mostly students. I'm still able to rent my properties out during these times. While it's a bit more unnerving with proper attention and efforts you can keep properties rented.

I'll be glad to help in any way.