In the meantime, my wife and I invested in our realtor business, resulting in my wife to be the Top 10% first year and Top 1% second year in the entire Pikes Peak Region.

If, however, you think that you might stay in your current career, I would focus on enhancing your current earning capability - sounds like that would be a JD, Criminal Justice, etc.

There are plenty of other articles on why one should buy homes prices that cheap too thoughLastly, don't forget that we are (likely) approaching the peak of the market.

If you went and bought a blue chip stock with a good dividend or a high quality bond, your $25,000 would earn you 2-3% in dividend and/or interest and you have to do nothing; your money works for you.

You can then funnel your profits into funds such as a Solo-401k and avoid even greater tax liability.There are limits to what you can do with your earnings and you'll want to talk with a tax professional.

Your money in savings account is earning a ridiculously low interest rate because that's a "safe" place to park your money. 

The median income earning family in Austin has been priced out to the suburbs, fueling the rapid growth of Cedar Park/Leander, Buda/Kyle, and other outlying communities in recent years.

We've always had interest in real estate investing and that interest was peaked when we recently we attended a local real estate seminar.  

If your objective were to generate steady cash flow for retirement you would look at very different opportunities from someone who wanted to earn 3x their money in a year.  

However, it's always a mistake to have the seller/buyer directly discussing ANYTHING - - that's the job of the agents, so let them earn their commissions and just let it happen.If you don't, then you fall victim to yourself - - he said, she said and nothing but chaos reigns.