I'm looking at plopping my life savings into my first house.

We are currently paying more than double our mortgage to get rid of this debt, but we could slow that down to save for a down payment on another house.

He can afford to bring the mortgage current with his savings but can't afford to pay cash for the home and wanted to get a VA loan.

We are currently paying more than double our mortgage to get rid of this debt, but we could slow that down to save for a down payment on another house.

I’ve always wanted to get into real estate but don’t really know the best route I’ve got about $25,000 saved up what would be the wisest way to use thIs?

Continuing this for 3-5 years while working two jobs, living tight, saving as much as possible and throwing it at investments so that I can then be reliably making 30-50k by around 4-5 years in.  

ONLY thing that made it a viable investment for me was the HUGE tax savings I got up front in years were I had massive ordianary income and I saved 100s of thousands that there is no way to get out of or deffer other than this tax treatment.. at least that what I keep telling myself.. 

If you plan to relocate to other areas of the country in short term, it may be better idea to rent and downsize to save money. 

Been reading numerous personal finance books and lurking BP for a few months now, but the savings are finally shaping up, so I've decided to take it more seriously :) I'm a recent college grad from the bay area who's been in industry for about 1-2 years now and I'm really interested in setting up a positive, reliable cashflow for myself to reach financial independence.

@Paolo F.I understand trying to save money by avoiding tax professionals, but this discussion should have illustrated why it might backfire.1.