Investing In Real Estate In D.C. Metro Area?

[Benyam Ephrem]

Hi, so my name is Ben and I am a 2nd-year student at the University of Maryland College Park. I'm studying computer science to become a Software Engineer (or wherever the degree takes me).

Short Background

So I've been really interested in real estate for about 1 year now. It all started when I read "Hold: How to Find, Buy, and Rent Houses for Wealth" and that really kind of sold me on how cool smart investing can be. So far here has been my self-education:

Books

• Hold: How to Find, Buy, and Rent Houses for Wealth
• Flip: How to Find, Fix, and Sell Houses for Profit
  
• What Every Real Estate Investor Needs to Know About Cash Flow (by Frank Gallinelli) (reading currently)
  
• The Millionaire Real Estate Agent (ordered today)
  
• The Millionaire Real Estate Investor (ordered today)
  

Podcasts

• BiggerPockets Podcast 1 - 68 (as of today)

Videos

• Graham Stephan [since he had like <10,000 subscribers] (YouTube)
• Meet Kevin [since he had like < 20,000 subscribers] (YouTube)

So I am a son of Ethiopian immigrants who came here about 24 years ago and I am extremely extremely lucky that we are fine financially and that my parents are paying for my college education (I really can't understand how lucky I am for that).

I have always wanted to make the most of the circumstance I have been granted and...yeah...that's why I like self-teaching myself many things and real estate has become one of my intrigues right now.

My "Plan" & Question

I've been saving up for a while and my ambition is to purchase a rental my senior year for 3.5% down using an FHA loan (no idea what this fully entails, still figuring things out) and live in it for the mandatory period and then move when I leave college and get work and keep renting it out.

I'll be looking for a place close to the university but at the same time I know that is probably hard because I once talked to an agent and he said that inventory was "tight" in the area.

So I guess my question is...should I start investing in the D.C Metro area and follow my plan of getting a rental senior year and then moving out?

I ask because when I leave college and get work I make end up in the Bay Area, New York, Seattle/Washington, etc. and I'm not sure if those are better places to start out...I really just have no idea what state the D.C. Metro market is in (but I can figure things out by talking to people I guess).

It seems like this is a looming process in front of me but I hope it happens. I'll just try to stay as educated as possible so that when the time comes I'll be ready to make good choices.

So yeah...this is my first BP post