Equity earns 0% interest (inflation will destroy your purchasing power) your real estate investment will Appreciate or Crash regardless of how much down payment you put on your home.

As far as meetups go, you can find a lot of local events posted here on BiggerPockets: https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/521-real-estate-events-...I also have a list of Chicago meetups that I can share with you as well.

Personally if you are looking to grow in real estate going the traditional method/way of getting good properties under agreement with traditional financing will get you to where you want to go faster than trying to find all the needles in a haystack.

@Duke Butterfield no one can really answer whether or not real estate is a good choice for you - except YOU!

I helped a guy that did some flips there, he said timbertown was really good, I helped him get an account at CED in pflugerville.

I am currently based in Canada and am looking to embark on my real estate investment journey in the United States, specifically focusing on multifamily properties. 

Everyone wants to get into real estate.

Real estate is local.  

Always underwrite conservatively Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

City Hall want to keep small town small, does nothing to promote town Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?