New Investor Young in the Philadelphia Area

[Erik Caputo]

Hello All,

I am a recent college grad working in the city and looking to grow my portfolio and wealth through real estate. I have many questions about this process but want to start with some pretty basic info, I am currently reading the book on rental property investing by Brandon Turner and its opening my eyes to a lot of sides to this process I was unaware of before. 

1.  The first issue I am running into happens to be initial capital for investing, and this stems from my fear of taking on an initial loan for a down-payment on a property is this a good idea to do or bad and why? 

2. What are the benefits to owning properties on my own portfolio or heading up an LLC and buying the properties through that entity?

Hoping to meet some like minded individuals that can help me understand what I am planning to get into, I want to start young and utilize my main benefit which is time. 

Thanks!