Hi everybody,

Real estate investing has been brought up to me a few months back and, since then, I have been dedicating my time to learning as much as I possibly can while I build up capital for my first investment.

I feel that I have enough knowledge to buy my first investment, but I have not done a great job of networking (which is the reason for this post). While I continue to build up my capital, my next step is to try to assemble some connections by sharing my goals.

My ultimate goal, like many of us, is to become financially free. Although that is very vague, my focus to help reach that goal starts with my first property.

I would like to owner occupy a small multi-family. I'm looking to move in with my girlfriend to avoid renting altogether. I'm interested in an FHA or 203k loan to keep the down payment to a minimum since capital isn't in abundance, but I'm open to other strategies if there is a better option.

From my analysis so far, I'm finding that it's difficult to find a property to cash flow due to the expensive areas around me, along with the high property taxes. My hope is to connect with a real estate agent (who is investor friendly), a contractor, and a mortgage broker (also one who is investor friendly).

Sorry for the long post, and thank you for the responses in advance!