Step 2: Narrow down your "buy box" (are you market-indifferent, are you looking for a certain level of cash flow, etc.).Step 3: Connect with real estate agents and begin making offers!

Diversification Beyond the Stock Market: Real estate provides tangible, real-world value that helps hedge against market volatility—a crucial feature when building a resilient retirement portfolio.

thanks for the guidance @Kaushik Sarkar Since it's development it will take longer to get to the exit. 3 years could be right depending on the market, if the project requires entitlements, how long it takes for permits, no major utility obstacles, etc.

My method has always been to call every listing that hit 90 days on market in areas that I want to buy.

Build - rent - refinance -repeat. in columbus ohio you are buying old houses that are 1900 or 1920 or 1940 and you are in a sellers market. on the other hand you can source land which is a buyers market and build single family homes or duplex or triplexes that will return by renting and pulling cash out on a DSCR loan and doing it again. there aren't a lot of strategies that do this. flipping is different. so many risks. but when someone has a well oiled machine it's all good and less risk.

It is probably worth your time to connect with BOTH @John Warren and myself since we are both managing brokers, but John is more focused on property management and I am more focused on general contracting, but we are both Chicago investors as well.Oak Park and Lawndale are definitely two different markets.

VA loans are the only loans that allow this, and there is no rate penalty for it no longer being your primary home.With that in mind, you could do a cash out refinance today at a higher rate than current market rates which will create profit on the loan, we can take that profit to pay for your closing costs.

He was a realtor based in the Midwest (I think the greater Chicago area) and was talking about off vs. on market deals and the importance of choosing equity over cash flow. 

They would likely be able to confirm that your expenses are reasonable for the area or that your rents are at market rates.

I bet if you look at this, you will see you are beating the stock market.