First real estate investment

[Jason Meszaros]

Hello all, here looking to get some advice as I look to make my first real estate investment! First off I'll explain a little bit about myself. I am 23 years old and rent a small one bedroom apartment with my girlfriend in Barrie, ON, Canada and have recently began a career in sales. I have become fascinated over the past few years with investing, particularly in real estate. My goal is to accumulate and hold rental properties with a positive cash flow, overtime essentially creating my own real estate "empire", however first I must get started. With little capital to begin my journey I am leaning towards finding a residential property (<5 units) to take advantage of a 5% down payment for first time home buyers, however from information I've gathered online I've found a few parties which recommend, if possible, to start with commercial properties (>4 units). I am also unsure, with my goal of accumulating many properties over time, if starting a corporation to hold the real estate in is something that should be considered.

Any advice regarding these topics would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers,

Jason