Current Student Interested in Real Estate

[Austin Cass]

Hello, I am going into my third year of college and will be graduating in May 2024. I recently found Bigger Pockets and learned about how life-changing real estate has been for so many people! I have spent the past several weeks listening to countless podcasts, attending multiple webinars, reading through the BP forums, and analyzing a few deals posted here and on Zillow.

Right now, I think that the two best options for me would be to either 1) house hack with a multi-family home or 2) buy an SFH near campus with 3-4 bedrooms and rent out the ones that I am not using. I have seen several flyers up around the school and know that there is a steady flow of students looking for housing nearby. Unfortunately, it seems that there are almost no multi-family properties available and the single-family homes that are available in my budget are either run down or in pretty rough parts of the city.

I do have a part-time job and currently have about $10k that I am willing to spend on real estate. It seems that this is a pretty low amount for someone to start out with considering the down payment, closing costs, and other unforeseen fees. This combined with my time commitment at school as well as a lack of "good" properties available makes me feel like I should wait to get my feet wet in real estate. Am I wrong for thinking this? Should wait a few years until I graduate and have a career to build up capital?

Sorry for the long-winded explanation of my situation, but I felt that it was time to reach out to the community here and just see if anyone has been in a similar spot or had any useful information. Thank you!