Just starting out in Charlotte, NC

[Jade Clayton]

I'm 24, I live in charlotte, North Carolina and I'm looking to buy my first house. My end goal is to buy multiple properties in charlotte since it is an upcoming city and do a buy and hold. I plan to rent out the properties as the city grows.

My question is if it's best for me to start out with an FHA loan to get my foot in the door or wait until I have a 20 percent down payment. My other question is if it's best to invest in a single family home close to the college where the vacancy will be lowest or if I should invest in a town home or duplex in the area closer to the city where it costs much more but is where most millenials tend to move after college. Also, a lot of investors I have been reading up on tend to get their properties for very low, usually around 50k-85k. Is it dumb to buy a property that's around 150k even though the appreciation rate has been increasing rapidly.

I appreciate if anyone could give me any insight, those are things that have been delaying my start. 

[Raul R.]

If you do a FHA loan I suggest doing a House Hack, get a multi and live in one of the units and rent out the others.
It will be hard finding SFH in Charlotte 50-85k range, if you find it might be in bad neighborhood or needing lots of work. You might have to go to Gastonia or Kannapolis area to find decent SFH in that range.
I have a 4br/4ba Condo next to UNCC. Renting to College students has been a positive experience for me and I never have trouble finding tenants.
My purchases have ranged from 60k to 155k. I’m from NYC so $150k I still find it to be low...
If the cash flow make sense yes why not buy a 150k property..
To start out, I bought Condos. They are easier to manage although I’m not a fan of HOAs..