$165K CASH saved up, what would you do with it?

[Liam Talukdar]

Hey all experts,

I live in upstate NY. I have saved up $165K in cash. What would you do if you were in my shoes?  Is that enough to start ground-up construction? Any suggestion would be highly appreciated. 

[Sasha Fukuda]

You don't give many details, but I'll assume you don't have a family, don't have a house, want to stay in the area, and that there are small multi family apartments in the area. Given all these assumptions, I'd buy a triplex or a quad and live in one of the units. Maybe I'd even go small commercial instead (5 or 6 units). I'd also try to keep a pretty big emergency fund.