Agree with Flu here. Since you’re young, a good place to start is a condo. But buy in a place that you want to live, where you commute isn’t terrible, and low HOA/mello roos (well, as low as you can find).
And finance it (3.5%, 10%, 20%), doesn’t really matter, but makes no sense to pay all cash at these rates.
Another consideration is that you may eventually decide to move to a larger home, so a condo in an area that is easy to rent out. I have a friend that just bought in UTC and is renting a room out for $1k/month.
As for the rest of the money, invest it in an index fund. You don’t want to have all your investments in real estate or be one of those people that is house rich, but cash poor.
