What to do with Capital Pre-Real Estate Investment

[Tae Kim]

Hi guys -

Wanted to get your advice and/or personal experiences on how to properly save and grow your capital prior to making your first real estate investment. As a little background on me and my current financial position - I am a year out of college and have managed to save up a respectable amount that I intend to use to make my first REI. I work a well-paying job and am situated in the 25% or higher tax bracket. I am still a year out from making my first real estate investment by simple fact that I do not have the requisite # of credit lines to obtain a mortgage loan and also because I would like to save up as much as possible to account for emergency costs that I may face.

With that being said - how would you guys recommend a new to-be investor to best save and/or grow his money with an approximate one year time window prior to making a real estate investment? I have explored the option of investing in stocks, namely low or no-cost index funds/ETFs, that would provide a respectable annual return. However, I would incur a hefty capital gains tax when pulling out my money due to my tax bracket. Plus, stocks aren't really meant for short time-horizons like a year. There is also the obvious option of letting your capital sit in your bank account, but i'm aware of the importance of the time-value of your money. Would love to hear how members of the BP community best saved/grew their capital before making an REI.

Thanks!

Tae