Investment property

So, I have already organised my bank account to be earning high interest. I have negotiated a raise at work. Now I have to make the most of my resources by investing what I save.

I have a few thousand dollars worth of shares. Not much really, but I wanted to find out what the share market was like. Three were good bets, one was not. But I'm still working on it.

My next move is to invest in property. I don't have much of a deposit so it's not going to be a house. A unit then. But where, and in what price range?

So I went to the bank to see what finance I could get. Apparently I'm not a terrible bet, so that was encouraging. I then had my budget and I started looking at the local market. Now my local real estate market isn't likely to boom anytime soon (well at least I don't think so). But there is some demand for rental properties so there are some new developments and established properties.

I have two options. The first is to buy low and minimise my risk. The second is to buy a little higher for a possible better profit and rent but at higher risk. I'm a little stuck with this choice. I want the small risk. But I also want the potential for a better investment. So I'm letting the decision marinate at the moment to see what I end up with.

In the meantime I'll run all the numbers and do as much research as I can and hopefully my brain will sift it all down into a concrete decision. Any comments/ideas are welcome.