I would like to get to the point of buying at least one rental property a year. Just trying to figure out the best way to get started with what I have available at the moment.
Benjamin, if you do it right, you don't need to use any of that money. Keep it liquid and do a BRRRR. The key will be finding a property you can add value to. We just wholesaled one in New London that would have been a great BRRRR for someone like yourself. ARV around 70K, just needed some updates to flooring and paint. We ended up wholsaling it for $35K. Rents should be around $700/month. If you stuck $5K in for repairs and refinanced immediately you would easily be able to get all of your money back out. The key though is to use OPM or other peoples money. You should check out our REIA. We teach this strategy a lot and you can meet a lot of hard money lenders or private lenders who would borrow you the money all day.
Do what Carrie just said. Key is getting that reno budget down, start educating yourself as you may need to do most of the work yourself (bonus if you already know how). If not there are great classes at your local home depot so you can check those out, plus there is always Youtube.
How to invest 10k is very specific to the market. For what Carrie is saying, that sounds like a great deal but it would need to be a cash purchase most likely. You need to get to your local REIA meeting and get to know people that might be willing to loan you some cash for a few points and 10% interest, that can be a good way to get started but is slightly risky if you have no idea how much the reno will cost. If you are short on cash and have equity in your house a HELOC can also be a good tool to get started in the business. You can find more info on no/low money down at biggerpockets.com/books
Finally, if you do not own a primary residence start there. House hacking is probably the best way to build wealth with low money. Find a small multi-unit (2-4) where you can live in one unit and rent the others, if you do it right you will live there rent free, or close to it, then you will watch your bank account grow. Also, you can get FHA loans on these properties and that makes the barrier to entry pretty low.
You don’t always have to use your own money. Depending on your goals & strategy, you can look at pooling some of your contacts resources together. Grab 4 other people who want to put their money to work ($10k each) and boom, there’s your $50k to put down on a multifamily. But again, all depends on your goals and strategy.
That's something I might be interested in doing too. I'm also in Green Bay and have yet to do my first deal. Just trying to study all I can before taking the plunge =)