New member looking for advice on getting started!

[Johnny Bartel]

Hello everyone! I am getting started in real estate investing soon, and I want to plan for the best course of action. Currently situated in San Diego and can only afford rent for now because house prices in SoCal are bonkers. My fiancée and I are getting married in November and will be moving into a different rental in another part of town shortly after. We are looking for what to do after that. She is from and still has family in Peoria, IL and her family owns a flooring business, and is well connected in the housing maintenance community in Greater Peoria. One possibility is building a duplex in Peoria, while it's not the best rental market, getting a duplex at a possibly much cheaper price than market value is extremely appealing. Should we explore that route, purchase an already built duplex in Peoria or another part of the Midwest? Or just keep renting and saving in San Diego where we're familiar with the area and the market (which could take awhile, while we are probably 3ish years away from investing in a Midwest market). I am new to real estate investing and still learning, so any advice, related or unrelated to this would be extremely appreciated! Thanks!