I am starting to get involved with real estate investing, but I am only a college student, so I do not have the income to place a 20% down payment for most properties.

You might also look into learning about BRRRR (Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat), a popular method for scaling a portfolio.Network Locally: Engaging with local investors and attending meetups in markets like Dallas or Fort Worth can provide insights and connections that are invaluable.You'll find that momentum grows quickly.

Consider a market that you visit often, have family in, went to college at, spent time in the past.You will have a better sense of what the good / bad parts of town are compared to a city you never visited.Best of Luck!

If I was looking in PG County, I think Hyattsville and College Park would be my main targets.

It is not very difficult or complicated to evaluate commercial real estate, there are plenty of good books available that can teach you how, textbooks, online courses, community college classes, even excellent youtube videos etc, and it is actually quite enjoyable in the process to learn.

Attend meetups and message investors/realtors/wholesalers.

A - Average income is over $100k or young college educated professionalsB - Hipsters and young professionals.

Attend real estate meetups and networking events in your area to connect with potential lenders and other investors.

I'm in a drive to beach market so I'm on it but I would think college towns, mountains etc. might be similar.

Get those young healthcare professionals butts in seats for an "informal first-time homebuyer Q&A" with you and a local lender that has some FTHB goodies (and maybe you offer some healthcare professional goodies, like paying for a home warranty plus a $1k credit towards closing costs - only for folks attending your Q&A).