Newbie from SF Bay Area temporarily on Long Island, NY

[Maria Nattestad]

I am 24 years old and currently in graduate school working on my PhD in computational biology.

I am from Marin County in the San Francisco Bay Area, and I am moving back to SF after graduate school (1.5-2 years left) to a full-time job in the city. 

I have not yet had any experience in real estate, but I happened upon Rich Dad Poor Dad, which really made sense to me and validated some of my thoughts on why I want to have more control over my own life and my own investing. I am very interested in real estate as a way to build wealth and not just let my savings sit in the bank or in an index fund. Also, I am excited about the prospect of having more direct control over my money and my future.

I am still learning and deciding what aspect of real estate investing is best for me, though for now I'm mostly thinking about buy and hold, possibly with vacation rentals. Fixing up a house also seems very satisfying, whether holding or flipping it after the rehab.

I am mostly looking right now for a safe way to get started, and I am limited to 40k in savings. Any advice would be much appreciated, and I'm really excited that this site exists!