I buy and sell real estate notes.

That's a horrendous fallacy and a weak mindset to think that real estate agents are buying the best multis.

Investment Info:Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Beloit.

The reason most inexperienced investors buy in Detroit or Cleveland is because of cheap pricing.

I actually got caught up in the creative finance bubble of trying to lock up properties way over their value just because it had creative terms not realizing that if you were to buy a property at 120% of its value you will never be able to refi or sell without paying out of pocket.

BiggerPockets also has a calculator to analyze deals, and I highly recommend you start this as soon as possible, even if you are not ready to buy.

Your sphere is concerned with buying beer and cigarettes, not houses.

You are 18, you shouldn't be ready to buy a property yet.

Many investors opt for building broker relationships when buying 100+ unit properties, but it also takes time to build a relationship with the broker. 

Selling and buying something else you want keep and doing a cost seg in would help with the tax burden probably better in this situation.