Starting out with very little money and experience

[Sian Poteat]

Hello,

My name is Sian Poteat-Romero I currently live in the Jersey shore for my 4th year of college which is a rotation in a laboratory, after which I will pursue my masters in epidemiology, however my passion lies in real estate. So far I've learned enough to be able to teach my coworkers and I've reached a point where I feel like the only way I can learn is by action. For reference I've read numerous real estate books front to back multiple times (skip the flip, creative cash and all of the books published by bigger pockets). I've listened to countless hours of podcasts and YouTube videos. I've made an in-depth underwriting calculator on excel which I've used and tested, learned basic creative finance and I've even been to some REIA meetings in my area. What I'm lacking now is experience and a sound plan.

I have been working to get into wholesaling and I feel as if it is eating away at my cash, seeing as I am a college student and completely independent I feel irresponsible for burning my cash when I have my bills to worry about. In my mind that is an excuse my hustle should beat out any limitations I may face but money is one limitation I feel I might not be able to defeat since marketing is the life blood of this business, an expensive one at that. 

My question is which direction do I head in? Do I stick to my original plan of graduating and house-hacking? Do I spend my free time and limited cash on wholesaling to generate capital? Do I reroute that time into becoming a real estate agent part-time? I feel as if I may be to overextended and therefore lack focus so maybe that’s my problem. I feel guilty using my free time relaxing after studying and not building something for myself, more than anything I want to provide value and not excuses regardless of my limitations but I also need to remain realistic to prevent myself from ending up in a situation I can’t fix. Thank you.