If your debt is being paid at a high rate, your best investment probably would be to pay that down, not even considering other factors like stress, credit score, or safety reserve should something with REI go wrong.With that being said, if you can find a great deal, your expected return on that might be significantly better than your student loan costs, and therefore it would be prudent to jump at such an opportunity.Good luck!

It takes a ton of knowledge and patients dealing with contractors and the city for permits. 

So we shall stay patient and persistent and usually that produces great results

Sometimes you have to be patient. 

Give yourself a built-in margin of safety for every offer.  

If the market is still high when I begin renting it, I would likely rent myself until the market drops a bit, all while saving as much as I can, so I'll be ready to buy again when the market is better for buyers.Path 2:Keep saving and patiently look for a good deal on a rental property.

Am I moving to quickly, should I just be patient until I can afford the 20% down.Thanks,

Be patient and in2 years you will have enough equity in those properties to allow you the opportunity  to add some more units to your  portfolio and on the road to eventual financial independence.Feel free to reach out should you need any assistance.

@Dion DePaoli  f IRS redeems  then I think they have to make you whole plus statuary interest which I was thinking was 9%... but any improvements you do to the home past any that are for health and safety of the home would not be reimbursed.I have bought quite a few at the court house steps over the years with IRS liens I liked them actually because 99% of bidders won't bid on them because they cant backfill right away with their LOC or HML... this lead to some pretty spectacular deals in the day. 

The types of tenants who would pay more rent to live in an A building won't put up with the crime and safety issues of a C- 'hood.