How to go from Rent Living to Rental Investment?

[Yash Muni]

Hello Guys,

Hope you'll are doing great in life!

I am currently 30 years old, working a W2 full-time job, and living in a Rented apartment in Fairfax, Virginia. I don't have my own Primary Residence yet. Which strategies I should opt for in my real estate investment path?

My Short-term goal i.e. 1-year goal is to have my own Primary Residence + 1 Rental investment unit

My Mid-term goal i.e. 3-5 year goal is to get at least 2000/month of passive income cash flow

My long-term goal is to scale my Real Estate Investment Portfolio and replace my monthly W-2 income with Cash-flow income and then eventually have 13M Total Asset

Please advise, in Today's market, how should I go from absolutely Zero home to Rental Investment homes


I and my Wife are not willing/comfortable to house-hack in the same apartment/unit, however house-hacking via short Multi-family is fine with us.

Also, to achieve my long-term goal I guess I need to buy-and-hold. I am also ok to invest in-state markets or out-of-state markets.

However, I am not sure which strategy should I use to start as I currently don't even have my own primary residence?

Please your input and time are valuable to me. I would appreciate all the help :-)

Thank you very much in advance