Work hard and save for a couple years and learn as much as you can about RE as you go @Michael J.!

I just bought a brand new construction home with $303 cash flow after all expenses and debt service.

I have been researching (listening to a TON of BP podcasts, reading the forums, audio books, etc) and learning over the past couple months and have decided it is time to take action and begin my journey real estate investing.

On the other side, you could have a new build that owner pays no utilities there are no major maintenance issues because the building is brand new and operating expenses ratio could be 30-40%. 

However, they will calculate a new DTI (debit to income ratio) based on the new monthly payments from your cash out refi or HELOC loan.Some quick pros and cons about Cash out Refi vsHELOCCash out Pros-tax free money-low interest rate-no monthly payments Cash out Cons-closing costs (couple thousand)HELOC Pros-tax free -its a line of credit, hence you can use pay back then use again-usually NO closing costsHeloc Cons-higher interest rate-have to make monthly payments on money borrowedHope this helps,CB

I have talked to a couple but would like to hear what you have to say! 

Go a couple times and look for repeat buyers.

Below are some quick tips about cash out refi vs HELOC/LOCCash out Pros-tax free money-low interest rate-fixed monthly payments unless you choose a variable productCash out Cons-closing costs (couple thousand)HELOC/LOC Pros-tax free -its a line of credit, hence you can use pay back then use again-usually NO closing costs on residential Helocs; there will be closing costs on commericial LOCs-commericial LOC is very fast moving as far as getting funding and refinancing  (Makes it easy to rinse and repeat)HELOC/LOC Cons-higher interest rate-variable rates-monthly payments depend on amount borrowedHope this helps,CB

I've spent the past couple months educating myself by reading books and listening to most of the podcasts on this forum but feel that having some guidance on making the first purchase would be beneficial.If anyone has any recommendations, I would greatly appreciate it. 

There are also a couple more near by from what I can see in aerial map views.