New Investor from Edmonton, Alberta

[Nathan Flim]

Hello BP!

My name is Nathan and I am an aspiring Real Estate Investor located in Edmonton Alberta. I work full time in the agriculture industry and am also finishing up my BSc Chemistry degree this April. I have been interested in investing from a young age and have been investing in the financial markets since I started University. Real Estate Investing has always interested me and I have read a number of books and listened to many hours of podcasts. I just started going to my local REI meetings and I plan to continue attending those while I save up a down payment for my first investment property.

My wife and I bought our own place (townhouse) last year but we still have enough room for another mortgage since we purchased a house on the low end of our budget for our primary residence.  We are currently saving a down payment for an investment property and my goal is to pull the trigger by September 2016.

Any tips/insights will be much appreciated!  One question that I do have is about the type of property that makes a good first investment.  Since single family homes are very expensive in Edmonton, my down payment will be more appropriate for a condo or townhouse. The thing that scares me about these are special assessments and condo fees.  How do you  overcome special assessment fears etc. when looking at rental properties that have them?  I would love to buy a duplex or single family but even a starting duplex is 300K in Edmonton which is out of my price range.  

My goal is to eventually get into multi-family/commercial as I love business and finance and would love to turn real estate into a business rather than just a side venture.

Thanks All!