Save up, pay cash, get reliable but a good value...the best rule of thumb to live buy is put as little of your money into things that go down in value as you can...which is basically everything EXCEPT Real Estate....and maybe stocks...but basically you are only authorized to buy real estate from now on haha..I am half kidding...half.Pay off the debt, cut the expenses, save money like a crazy person and keep doing what you are doing...Live in flips are one of my favorites....even better, live in flip plus AirBNB for part of the year in a hot market airbnb market

I don't necessarily have the personality to be able to hold an asset like a stock for long term.

The TSP, like any other retirement account, is great until the stock market tanks and your money disappears because you didn't have it invested in a real, tangible asset. 

I'm relatively new to real estate so I'm hoping you can offer some useful insight.Applicant 1: Excellent credit, low debt-to-income ratio, upper-middle-class income, very little available cash in bank account (cash is mostly in stock and retirement accounts)Applicant 2: Mediocre credit, better-than-average debt-to-income ratio, middle-class income, enough cash available to almost buy home outright.

You should talk to a financial advisor and seriously think about putting the money into the stock market if your investment horizon is long.  

So if you invest in Real Estate, Stocks with Dividend, even your JOB to be a Cash Flow.These Cash Flows provide the seed money for your Investments.

I'm now thinking seriously about how real estate investing may help me fulfill my need to diversify out of stocks and create a relatively passive stream of income that will help supplement my retirement and, going forward, help provide long-term for the needs of my adult autistic son.  

owner finance with short term balloons for someone who cannot substantiate very strong financials today is highly unlikely to pay you off.the only way I have had this happen.. is relative came up with the doughor in one case my lessee worked for a company that converted ownership to all employees and they got about 600k in stock which they sold and paid me off ( 300K) 

@Darius TracyPlan Administrator of the TSP has list of investment options available for that plan, and it is always confined to the stock market, they would not allow alternative investment options such as real estate.

They will choose from the available stock of fractional or NNN or wholely owned assets that are available during that 45 day window.