I want to buy a rental property for myself in the near future and due to inflation I don’t know if I should keep the money im saving in my saving or stash in the stock market such as the s&p 500 for the time being until I’m ready to buy a property. 

If you rent to families, I would think having a stash of kids' or family oriented board games would be convenient & cheap to add 

Option 5 - Cool my beans, stash downpayment cash, then go conventional (this would take about a year, my bullish A-type personality does not like this)Option 6 -  Just sell the dang prime residence, buy 2 in cash with the 300k, rent a bit then use VA to buy another primary residence, then use the remainder to leverage another 2.   

Stash cash for your next move.  

Properties are really expensive here- I have some small amount stashed away I'd like to use to get started (in the order of a few 10k)- I am considering two options: house hacking or short-term rental properties nearby (including NH and ME)House hacking seems hard because we do not want to move to a different area and properties are quite expensive around here.

I'm in cash stash mode for my first investment property.

A small number of people had massive hoards of these supplies stashed in their basement. 

The numbers just don't work when your mortgage is $250k+ and your rent is only $1500.At the end of the day,.... cash flow + a strong stash of reserves is king.   

Have a backup cash stash that is for emergency repairs, such as HVAC, roof damage, appliance failure.Have the cost of a couple of turns set aside--ready and waiting.You may possibly need "Pest Control", roaches, bedbugs, ants, spiders, etc... and have to pay for it on a regular basis (sometimes renters bring these friends with them when they move in). 

Hello BP, I am saving money for my first investment property and would like to hear recommendations as to where this money should be stored until ready for use? I had the idea of saving the money in an ETF that tracks...