If you were to ask any RE investor they'd probably tell you they wish they'd started sooner, considering you're only 18 puts you way ahead of the game.

Having your finances ready to pull the trigger at a moments notice is half the game.  

Is the population growing, are big chains starting to move in if they're not already there, are jobs dependant on a specific employer or is there decent diversity (ex: we have tech and Boeing up here, but tech is starting to move to working from home and Boeing is starting to move some production out of state), whats the median income, where are the bad neighborhoods, etc.

My name is Wendell, I am 26 years old and I am brand new to BiggerPockets, already love all the support and information in the community.I just wanted to layout where I am at in my investment journey as well as my initial game plan for really jumping straight into real estate investing.

After being in the game for a while, we can usually sense when something is off before we enter contract.

My suggestion was based on my belief you wanted to step into the game of rentals that your have been working around for years.

This will avoid issues down the road if she is flaky and using boyfriend to play the tenant game.

Two years and thousands of research hours later, I know a heck of a lot more and realize that he probably just sent out a mass text to investors he knew which is how you play the game, right?

@Steve Morris in the beginning yes it’s terrible but after you get a thick skin and get better at it’s a great tool I just wanted to see if anything had changed when I was out of the sales game.

But the name of the game is skate to where the puck is going....this market seems to have a vibe of affordable housing, space, yard, single family, etc... in my opinion Not sure about NY, but Cleveland has pockets of massive appreciation.Tremont, Lakewood, Ohio city - all neighborhoods of 2x-4x appreciation over 7-10 year horizon..... not sure now as I never had the stomach for the risk/reward.I always operate in the same market since I’m a high velocity flipper and deals exist all over the Midwest key is building relationships and trust in your market.