Invest in real estate or employee stock purchase plan?

[Laura Israel]

I'm looking for some advice. I'm saving up money to buy our first planned rental or flip (haven't decided). However, I work for a Fortune 500 company that has a pretty good employee stock purchase plan also. My question is, should I take  the money that I'm saving and invest in my ESOP instead?

For more details in the ESOP, I can take up to $20,000 of my paychecks per year (maximum $5,000 per quarter) at a 15% discount of the lesser of opening or closing price for the quarter. The stock price has been rising steadily/slowly the last year and I feel somewhat confident it will at least stay flat. I have to hold the stock for a minimum of 1 year. I'm already investing in it, but only at $650/quarter.

For real estate, we're not complete novices, we have 1 accidental rental when we moved that cash flows nicely, and would like to invest in more deals. We live on the outskirts of Orlando, in the Clermont area, and would be looking for fixer upper under $150k. At current savings rate, we probably have enough for down payment at 20%, rehab, and holding costs in 6 months to a year.

Thanks,

Laura