I'm starting a remote job and can buy my first home anywhere

[Emily Green]

I'm changing jobs to a remote private sector position and rolling my 401k over to a traditional IRA. I'm 26 and have almost 14k in that account, but otherwise have very little saved up so far. Since I'm going remote, I can intensify my saving strategy and move almost anywhere after my apartment lease is up in July. There are so many options that I'm learning about, and I'm feeling a little lost over where to start. The only thing I *know* is that whatever I end up doing, I want to be able to rent the property out later on and grow my income through rentals or Airbnbs. I also know that I can only withdraw up to 10k from my IRA once it's rolled over and would rather move home temporarily to save up money for the purchase than to take penalties for going over the 10k limit.

First of all, what are some locations within the US that I should consider buying in/moving to? The work headquarters and my family are both in the Memphis, TN area, but I want to make the smartest money choice and buy where I can make the smartest investment, whether I live there short-term or long-term. 

Secondly, should I buy a house and rent out a room to a roommate? A house with a guest house? A duplex? Buy it done or buy a fixer-upper (I'm pretty handy but can't do it all)? Should I build a house/guest house/duplex so that I love where I live from the start, or just plan on living there as long as required by the FHA loan policy and then moving on to my next investment?

I know that I need to save up more before making a purchase like this. But, in the meantime, I want to at least narrow down what city I should be looking to purchase in and what type of living situation to shop for or build in order to maximize the benefits of an FHA loan on my first real estate investment.

Thanks for your time and help!

[Taylor Dasch]

Man you are in a great position, just the fact that your willing to move away to enhance your investing potential shows that you are hungry for it. Since you have pretty much the whole US to choose from your options are way more than I could even start to list. What I would do if I was in your situation is pick an area that I enjoy. Purchase a duplex - ideally one that needs work- refinance it, house hack it as long as you can, and aquire as many properties as you can. The MAIN thing that I really wish I would have done is to have a clear well thought out vision of where you want to be in 1 year, 3 years, and 5 years and then determine what actions you will need to take, then determine which market will be the best to reach your goals ( this will likely be a lot of research if your picking from the whole US lol)