Starting out- tax benefits

[Nick Walley]

Hey BP! 
First post and it’s great to meet you all. 

I would love some advice / perspective… I live in the East Bay Area here in CA, have a great W2 and good sales commissions, and want to start RE investing. I’ve been learning for the last few years from the podcast and I know I need to get started and get some experience. 

Given that I have the makings of a good team here (my dads a contractor, I have a good RE agent, and my wife will self-manage) I want to get into single family or under 4 unit BRRRR deals here locally to get experience before I go out of state. I can qualify for an investment house at 25% down, up to 600k purchase price and can come up with the down payment. The cash on cash return would be about 3%. Is this a waste of capital?

My wife and I own our home and would consider moving into a multi family house hack, but that wouldn’t be for another 1.5 years. 

Also- is there a strategy that can reduce my taxes? I am in CA and pay quite a bit on my earned income. Thanks!!!

-Nick