Hello BP Community. I'm completely new to Real Estate Investing and have been reading, listening and watching on BP for hours a day since learning of it a week ago. My title pretty much says it all. Although I have gotten a tremendous amount of information I'm looking for some advice on how to start my journey; what you wish you would've done, or have learned from, how to start quickly, etc.
I want to get in to rental properties and my biggest concern is capital. The lender I'm currently working with said 20% down and 25% on multifamily. My thought as of right now is I can buy 1 or 2 rental properties but then what? How do I continue to accrue more properties? I know there's information and calculations I'm missing. Are 1 or 2 houses better or is a four-plex better? I know that like so many things will "depend" but I'm just curious. Since I'm just starting out should I even THINK about looking out of state for a multi-family and hire a property manager?
A little back story to make things more interesting; I do have equity in my home available. My credit score is "good-great". My income-to debt ratio is good and my (current) lender so money won't be a problem other than the 20% down which in my opinion is a huge problem! I have liquid money but would like to not rely on (or use) that too heavily in the case of vacancies, unforeseen repairs and things like that until I can save for those types of events. Am I looking at it wrong? And the icing on the cake, I work at a coal-fired power plant and will be out of a job in 4 years due to the shutdown. I 100% KNOW that this is not a "get rich quick" game, I realize that, but is it completely crazy to think I can accrue enough rentals in 4 years to not have to get another job with this type of salary?
Thanks in advance for your responses, ideas and all the information this community is so willing to share.