Aspiring Real Estate Investor from Los Angeles, CA

[Igal Shakh]

Hi All, 

My name is Igal Shakh. I live and work in LA (construction) and can't wait to get started in real estate investing. I have some property management experience; however, being that I'm completely priced out of Southern California, I'm looking at either single-families or multiplexes in and around Las Vegas. 

I connected with an agent in the Vegas area who is sending me properties (just sent me a bunch of REO and have a friend who wants to invest with me and is willing to put 50% of the down-payment (I'll have to somehow come up with the other 50% of the down-payment). The goal is to buy and hold a property that produces positive cash-flow (doesn't have to be a lot - I'm just trying to have a first investment that doesn't fail).

Any suggestions, advice, and comments are welcome (especially about getting my half of the down-payment). I have very low debt, a decent income, great credit, but no savings (since I'm working on getting completely out of bad debt). 

Thank you!