New Investor while renting?

[Alex Buscaglia]

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to the real estate investing world and want to get started as soon as possible.  At 27, I already feel like I've wasted time with my money and investments and don't want to continue down this path.  The problem is, I currently rent and don't foresee that changing in the near future (Chicago is not the best bang for your buck at the moment!).  With this in mind and seeing as I wouldn't be able to self-finance with a property/get a home equity line of credit for the first property, does investing in rental properties still make sense?

All of the stories I'm hearing are of people that refinanced their home or used a HELOC to get started on their first property. After that, with private money and portfolio loans, I know there are other options for funding. I'm just wondering if I'm jumping the gun. I don't think so, but maybe?

Thanks for any insight and look forward to bouncing ideas off each other!

Alex