Buying First Property

[AJ P.]

To introduce myself, my name is AJ and I recently graduated from Villanova University where I studied finance and real estate. I’m back in Pittsburgh where I’ve spent all but my four years of college and recently started my first job (ironically a real estate related role). I grew up exposed to real estate (from my grandfather who owned laundry mats & apartment buildings and my dad who owned a car wash and his own rental units) and I’ve been interested ever since. More recently, I’ve been acting in the role of property manager for my dad (certainly with a little bit of painter/ laborer mixed in too).

I have a true passion for the industry and I certainly intend to pursue my passion for the financial rewards, but even more so because I genuinely enjoy it and want to make a career out of it. I’ve done my due diligence on the home buying process and I have my team in place (agent, lender, and contractor). I’m just looking for general guidance/ mentorship you would give to yourself when you started real estate investing. I’m currently analyzing deals and I’m very anxious to get my first one under my belt. If you’re interested in connecting with me, please feel free to reply or message me. I greatly welcome any guidance and I truly appreciate anyone willing to give me some of their time. Thank you so much!

[Jeremy Taggart]

@AJ P. 

Some advice:

1) House hack as many times as you can to take advantage of the owner occupied financing and eliminate your housing expense. I'm always a big proponent of house hacking if you are able.

2) Sooner rather than later get into a job that has no ceiling on the income/something where you aren't just trading time for money. Ideally something related to RE investing would be ideal. When you're young and have the most energy/no obligations that's the best time to put in the work, take "risks", and build something for yourself rather than someone else.

3) Learn how to utilize OPM (other people's money) to scale your real estate portfolio quicker.

4) Learn how to find good deals. Good deals give you plenty of ways to make $$$ off them.

5) Live below your means as much as you can in the beginning. Wait until you have cash flowing properties to pay for the fancy car and house rather than using your hard earned money.

6) Prioritize learning over $/hour at the beginning. Think long term. I'd work for someone that's in the position I want to be in 5-10 years for free over working some pointless job to make $20/hour. The skills you will learn will be worth way more to you in the long run.