Once you've got the education that gives you the ability to set your goal, and that goal will evolve over time.

My first summer in Alaska coming up, looking to fly fish for the first time and try my hand at one of the 5 species of Salmon here :)@Andrew, were you stationed in Ft.

My position is that you should just start investing and then become more efficient as you evolve, that way you don't get paralyzed buying your first property.

I wish our state and federal processes would evolve as quickly as technology has.

If we invest strictly for cash flow in the beginning, it will take a long time to build up enough capital such that the cash flow is sufficient to replace our active income.My own thinking was like yours at one time, but has evolved somewhat with the benefit of hindsight as well as some introspection about what kind of investor I am. 

Or it can be a combination of all of the above.Then one other note, I started using Evolve Vacation Rental Network for my short term rental.

Our business model evolved from SFRs to double wides on their own land.  

welcome here and congrats in taking the next step.I invested out of States many times and now there are diffenrent list availables, over 1000 a month, that makes it a lot easier now, and also 3 houses for $50k with turn key program for lease-option buyers... pretty amazing how the market OOS evolved a lot since I started OOS in 2008, barely speaking English and being from Canada, with all the problems I had to overcome.In California, I discovered that right now, the condos 1br/1ba in Long Beach are the ones who can provide some equity and cash-flow. :-)Good luck and we are here to help!

I feel that as an investor, I am better served looking south to the proposed links in Kent, Auburn, and Tacoma as the whole of Puget Sound evolves into one "super-region".

I would love some feed back and or comments from anyone that may have some invaluable insight into this ever changing and evolving world we all call Real Estate...