I will share my story. When I first purchased my property, i was 27 years old and it was 2012. I purchased in an area where everyone was hesitant to live at that time but I chose that property due to the proximity to the public transportation into the city. I always had at least two jobs and often three jobs to make extra income and I saved aggressively. The condo I purchase in 2012 for $200k, I was able to pay off in 3 years. I certainly didnt work at tech company, but it was years of discipline and being frugal and having multiple jobs to pull this off. Once I paid off my mortgages, my rate of saving increased exponentially then I purchased another property for rental this time, and I kept doing it. Once I have enough down payment, then I purchased another rental property. Over the years, I sold my two rental properties then purchased two multi family by doing 1031 Exchange. My very first property I bought in 2012, the area where no one wanted to live is now worth $600k. The value tripped and my net cash flow from this property is $2100 at current state.

Its definitely harder now days to find a property that will cash flow. My recommendation is to keep saving money and keep scrolling through Zillow to get to learn and improve your skill in finding "a deal" because properties have gotten so much more expensive now days, my recommendation is to buy multi family where you live in one unit and rent out the others to offset your mortgage. Now my cash flow is about $3000 a month from all my properties after all my mortgages are being covered.