As for the areas to target, my goal in getting our feet wet as real estate investors--and since we plan to be living in Sac--is to find a property we can live in while renting out one or more units to help cover our housing expenses, which we can then hold and continue to rent out when we move.

Targeting single family/duplex/triplex/quadplex with 3 beds and 2 baths per unit, and $300K or less.

My wife and I have overhauled our personal budget to reflect the 'pay yourself first' approach (allocate in order: income comes in -> invest -> donate -> fixed expenses -> variable expenses -> fun $$).We are looking to see what experienced people generally recommend for a holding tank for that 'invest' allocation while we target our first real estate deal.What financial vehicles have you guys used that works well for this?

How do you determine a reasonable target return?

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What is the target acquisition price and how much capital do you have ready to deploy immediately?

For example, are there specific documents or information I should prepare, or would identifying a target property first be more beneficial?

Targeted marketing would come via social media, which is usually priced on a $ per impression or $ per click basis.  

You have a far better chance trying to sell to an individual than targeting hedge funds.

From a personal standpoint I target 70% LTV for any investment I have that way gives me ability to sell it if I need too