With that awesome credit score, I'd say Stay as liquid as you feel comfortable and invest with other people's money, using small amounts for down payments on investments. With your construction talents, you can make that $150K stretch further than most people's $250K. Yes, education is the most important investment before taking any action! Don't let realtors or lenders educate you. Who knows what their agenda may be. BiggerPockets is the perfect place to start. I've heard Brandon say something like, Listen to 100 podcasts, read 100 blogs, post some number of questions on BP and read 10 books or 50. I don't remember his exact numbers besides 100 podcasts because I made that part of my ongoing educational goals. I would keep in mind some of the expenses you'll encounter before you reach that "Quit my day job." level of income. Expenses for a CPA, lawyer, business setup, property management, etc. In fact, you may want to start looking for those resources first if you really stress about the business organization piece. Having everything organized from the start would be heaven-sent according to many CPAs.
And... the Carolinas are great states to invest. So much growth and growth potential. I'm partial to Greensboro, Winston-Salem and can't wait to get something going on the Outer Banks, but that's a whole different ballgame (hurricane and flood insurance, massive property management of vacation rentals, etc.).
Best of luck to you!
