Buying a Property in College: Is it Possible?

Question

I'm a senior at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst MA. Next year I will be entering my first year of graduate school and have 2.5 years total before I graduate with my Master's.

I've been educating myself on real estate investing for over a year now, I'm tired of paying rent and putting money in someone else's pocket every month, and in the next year I want to make the move to purchase my first property (hopefully a multifamily that I can house hack). Despite my status as a student, I've worked all four years of undergrad and saved up a good chunk of money (over 10k).

My credit is pretty good (750) and I have about 20k worth debt in student loans from undergrad.

Does it sound realistic to buy a property at this age? The biggest hurdle in my mind is financing, any ideas where to start with that? Maybe portfolio lenders? I'm going to be meeting with some agents in my area to see what's available. Any advice helps!

Phillip Austin · Answer

@Joseph Cammarata 100% possible. Don't put limitations on yourself because of age, money in the bank or credit worthiness. This is your brain limiting your own potential out of fear of the unknown.

You've already been making sound decisions and you made another one by posting here on BP. Continue networking and you'll find others in your exact scenario or others who have been in your scenario. Those folks will offer the best advice.

Kellie Powell · Answer

Yes!!  My daughter was a Junior in College when she bought her first home.  A small 2 bed / 1 bath home.  She "rented" her second bedroom to her friend.  She was renting an apartment with the friend for $900.00 a month.  Her mortgage payment now is $600.00/month.  Her friend pays her $400.00 a month in rent.  Its a win/win for everyone.  Just be prepared to pay the full mortgage if your friend / roommate suddenly falls in love and moves out.  House hacking is great for someone in your position.   Btw,  once her little sister is college age, she plans to rent out her house to her sister and her roommate, using that house as an investment property, then buy another home closer to the big city where she wants to relocate....she also has a TON of student debt.  She just received her diploma and is now working on her masters degree.  Do it!  Start looking at houses you know you can afford on your own and go get pre-approved.  This Momma is behind you 100%!!

Siddharth Banerjee · Answer

Hey Joseph!

I just sent you a PM! I'm currently enrolled in the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth! I've been saving up enough money and just absorbing up all the knowledge I can about real estate in order to hopefully buy my first multifamily within 1-2 years!

I fully believe it is possible to buy a property while in college, the main thing is just obtaining enough capital, whether that be from yourself, a bank, private investor, etc. At our age it's hard to qualify for a loan amount enough to buy a building which is why it's best to net work with people who are able to help you out.

It's a great start to talk with some lenders to get a sense of what loan options are around for you, there are some local loan options which could be very lucrative to take advantage of!

I'd love to discuss your plans and goals!

Brett Merrill · Answer

Hi @Joseph Cammarata. Welcome to BP!. I'll tell you right now that it is absolutely possible. I am a UMASS alumni and I SERIOUSLY regret not getting started while I was still over there. However, that was just due to not knowing about the benefits and possibilities at that time. The fact that you have BP and are educating yourself on this topic puts you way ahead! Unfortunately I did not start until right after college but I house hacked my first four multifamly properties and it was the best thing I could have done. I was able to get into them with low and on some occasions NO money down. There are so many different financing strategies that absolutely make this a possibility. I live and invest heavily in Hampshire and Hampden County so trust me when I say that there are certainly great on/off market properties available in this area. You just need to know what to look for and where to look for it. Please feel free to connect and reach out. I'd be more than happy to answer any questions and help to the best of my ability.

Lien Vuong · Answer

You can do it if you have someone with more income history and $ down to be able to execute on this plan. In Boston city people buy condos for their kid to live in during the college years and then move out and sell for a profit so there's definitely a case for this if your parents were open to the idea.

DJ Scholl · Answer

Joseph: IMO, its possible and your headed in the right direction, that is to buy a house when you are young. I might throw out a couple of different idea's for you that worked for me as a 18yr old college kid a long time ago.. I got my salesmans license in MA when I was 18, went to work summers for a local broker (1960's). I was enthusastic and understood real estate enough, but what made me successful was my enthusiasim for the area I summered in and my knowledge of the area.  But the other influence that I had over older, more experienced brokers, was that all of my buyers were many years older.  This helped because the buyers kind of looked upon me and related to me as if I was their son or grandchild. They trusted me and what I said! If I didn't know all the technical answers, back at the office my boss would fill in the techie details on closing.  I did know enough to ask for the sale from the potential buyers, so to speak, so I had no problems asking for the buyers deposit.

During those summer months, I sold a bunch of houses, and I excelled at listing properties for the same reason, "my youth and desire".  My friends were working at miniumn wage (about $2.00 hour) summer jobs,  while I was making realtively big comission checks.  However the best part was when I was back at college and those listing commission checks kept rolling in because my listings were being sold by other brokers, and I got a listing commision! While at college in Boston, my broker continued to send me leads which I contacted and if they were a reasonable driving distance from me, I would take my mls book, or pitch book of our listings and go visit them at their residence.  Then I would meet them on weekend and try to sell them a house..

I just want to mention that as I stated above this is my brokerage experience as a salesperson in 1960's, prior to franchising agencies, and agent teams and technology.  I am not familiar how agencies treat and pay their brokers today, as I am not activily working in an agency selling houses, I am active in investing and private lending for the past 25 years. The story above is how I got started.

Getting back to your more specific question, my brief response is that with a part-time job or limited income its always a challenge to find a traditional lender to finance you, you have good credit, which is a must. I am sure there are other folks on Bigger Pockets who can give you better advice on traditional lenders i.e., (jump through hoops- loans) than I can.  However, my approach would be to find a reasonable JV partner, or private lender to work with, or better yet an owner financed property. I am new to using Bigger Pockets, but I can expand on those idea's however you should email me directly if you want to discuss further.  Best of luck!

Bruce Woodruff · Answer

Always! Buy RE as soon as you can, and as much as you can. I'd find a RE agent and a Lender now and start sharing your plans with them, ask for their help. And of course, ask questions right here on BP, there is a ton of knowledge on here in all areas of RE. Learn, learn, learn.....and save, save, save...!

Jeremy H. · Answer

Is the pope a catholic?

Nathan Harden · Answer

Oh, forsure!

As far as obtaining a conventional type loan, I'm not sure what your work history is like so that might come into effect for your purchasing power. I'm also not sure what prices are like over there but if you have $10k then you'll have enough for an FHA house hack loan for about a $200k property.

Paul Pratt · Answer

Absolutely, in your area it will be difficult but if you have some solid co-signers can make it happen. Competition specifically for multifamily is fierce but if theres a crack in your market that would be great.

Buying a Property in College: Is it Possible?

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