I agree with @Michael Smythe to consider the time to save vs the appreciation. 

If you buy with a tenant in place, you save yourself the hassle of paperwork and inspections upfront, but you miss the chance to screen the tenant yourself—which can be risky.

It’s also a great strategy for consolidating debt or accessing additional capital for growth.However, be mindful of potential prepayment penalties and how they weigh against long-term savings.

I would save money up and do a flip yourself.

Also, focus on building a solid understanding of deal analysis, financing options, and project management—it’ll save you time and money in the long run.

We like being aggressive in stock market investing but more conservative in real-estate given that we plan to use that for cash-flow eventually.The options are:We expect to have $200K/year in taxable savings the next 5 years (barring a job loss)- Pump all savings to the stock market & keep the current rental properties as-is and payoff the properties over the next 15 years using cash-flow for snowballing.

Eliminate debt, establish a budget, and save.

Saving 20% down for an investment seems almost impossible today.

Also, if anyone has a legal advisor in Virginia that is interested in working with a small investor (this will be our 2nd investment property), please pass their name and info along.

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