There are plenty of people doing fantastic things in Chicago and making a lot of money in the process here, but none of them are half-committed. 

I have a state license and NMLS in Oregon were its required  same with CA  you can lend money there legally with those license or a RE brokers license which I have one of those. 

I am currently listening to Investing in Real Estate with Little or No Money Down...

We looked into DSTs but did not like locking up our money for long periods.

The goal is to replace 1 persons income, for now, and pricing on multifamily seems too high at the moment to be able to accomplish that without more money on hand.I've been in property management for around 4 years and my husband is with the same company in the renovations department.

It'll be tough to get into a pure investment in your area for 35k but here are a few options:- partner on the second deal- if the numbers make sense and you could get more cashflow then you could look at a higher price point but my guess is this will be difficult to find- Buy your first property as planned, and save the 35k as reserves and/or just keep it for the next down payment on another FHA after a year- find a place that needs some work where you can use that money to fix up and force appreciation to the propertyPersonally, I would look at those last 2 options where you have the cash on hand ready to deploy for the next down payment or rehab costs if needed.

By understanding these rules, you can save money and acquire valuable insights into effectively managing your property.

Keep an eye on how loan rates move and try to guess their next step, as even a tiny rate change can mean more or less money each month.

Another option is private money / hard money. 

@Charlice ArnoldInterestingly enough we have found many have passed on opportunities to buy hard money loansNot sure why as I would recommend them to an investor over an owner occupied loan any day of week but people either think they can make 15% or have some other reasonCurious to here if anyone else has some short term loans that have challenges finding a buyer