25% into a ladder cd set up for the next couple years. 50% invest into brokerage account. 25% i would look for a House in the southeast, small college town with a couple big industry employers and probably do a small 2/4 plex there.

This has led to 0 vacancies and no late rent on our properties in 7 years.You can ask for paystubs and W-2s for most employed individuals.

@Mark Johnson Arden-Arcade area in Sacramento with close commute to downtown and large employers (Kaiser, Sutter & Mercy Hospitals).

Ok so Im self employed (own a car dealership) for tax purposes Im not showing that much income (35K) or so.

but what if the area seems far from employment?

I am currently employed as a Behavior Therapist and would like to venture into real estate, specifically small multifamily buy and hold investing.

My day job:  I work for the government and make about $57k a year with very stable employment history.   

One of my biggest expense as a self employed Realtor/Investor is health care.  

The more leverage you use, you'll on paper have higher cash on cash return on the equity invested......higher debt isn't for everyone, but many REI's employ higher leverage.

In addition, if you are self-employed with no full-time employees you may wish to consider opening a Solo 401k instead of a self-directed IRA as it has several advantages over an IRA LLCsuch as much higher contribution limits, direct checkbook control (i.e. no need to have the account at a specialty trust company), ability to take a 401k loan, exclusion from unrelated debt finance income tax with respect to investment in real estate acquired with non-recourse financing, etc.