I'm looking to start buying properties as I already own my home  here and want to continue to build my family's empire. 

This is because we have spent a lot of years slogging through nothing and several major value add live and flips and a fix and flip during GFC to get to place where we own the house and have a bit of IRA and enough to start building an empire (evil laugh).   

si=C...Always a continuing work in progress taking me one day and one step further in the journey to build an empire. 

Pittsburg doesn't see the huge swings Phoenix, Las Vegas, Inland California and other markets do.

The combination of business training with a tech background is and will be one of the most sought after skills for the foreseeable future.To the OP, unless you fall into the 0.01% of folks who can build an investment empire using zero money down, my advice would be to get your degree...you will be extremely glad you did.

Empirically speaking, the lighthouse is more stable than the boat, and gold is more stable than the dollar.For example, whatever the dollar price of oil is, it keeps on trading in a shockingly stable range against gold for literally 150+ years.

So now that you are worth several millions, how to protect your empire?

Yes, I have bought many REOs in the Inland Empire.

Inland Carolinians mostly seek the Carolina coast.

The Guru's have no problem with eating their own chum and they also feast from their own bait bucket as well.Sooner or later these types spiral in, landing in flames without much noise but with plenty of stench to go around.They generally push colon cleansing "miracles' just before they implode in an odorous heap of their own ethics and finally become obvious to every human sense what they were full of from the start.Thank god I will be shunned..............Tell the guys in Cape Coral I said Hi!