Figure out ways to offset your living expenses or buy properties that you can add value to and then trade up within 3-4 years.2.

However, if you made the property available for rent in 2024—meaning you actively advertised it, listed it, or had it ready for tenants—you may be able to deduct certain expenses like mortgage interest, property taxes, maintenance, and depreciation for that period.

As for the areas to target, my goal in getting our feet wet as real estate investors--and since we plan to be living in Sac--is to find a property we can live in while renting out one or more units to help cover our housing expenses, which we can then hold and continue to rent out when we move.

This way you are not living in your office because you're not sleeping there. 

I live in Fl. where insurance is pretty costly but I am also investing in states where insurance seems less expensive.

I know a lot of investors have done very well in Peirce County but I just haven't learned or know enough about that market to make an investment there.Washington state properties are expensive and can be difficult to make breakeven let alone cash flow at this moment due to the combination of high prices and interest rates. 

I grew up north of San Francisco and then moved to live and invest in Reno, NV.

Going to need about 30 of those to live how I want to. 

What do you think of my essentially 7-word answer? "It's like selling pizza by the slice".  Too simple? Just right? How would have you answered? 

Not the cheapest 25% or the most expensive 25% but I’m the middle, where people want to and can afford to live.