18 years old, how should I start?

[Taylor Hughs]

Hey Bigger Pockets community, my name is Taylor and I’m 18 years old. I’m going to college next year at either Baylor, SMU, or A&M to get a finance degree (if you have a better degree suggestion please tell me). I am extremely hard working, a good people person, and am very driven. For the past month I’ve been reading real estate books (How to invest in RE, ABCs of RE, and the Millionaire RE investor), I’ve listened to countless hours of podcasts and YouTube videos, and am looking to start applying my knowledge in the next couple months. 

My plan right now was to continue learning and to try to get private money at 19, next year when I’m in college, begin to house hack and then scale as much as I can. Hopefully getting 5 homes in my first year and then going up exponentially from there until I can get into the commercial side of real estate. I was really banking on getting private money to purchase these homes and scale. I have however realized without a W-2 job or any experience I don’t think there’s anyway I can obtain private money.

I just watched a video and got a suggestion to begin wholesaling since I am too young and don’t have a W-2 job to obtain any private money or loans. 

I was hoping to get some advice on how to take my preparation to the next level. Should I wholesale, what should I do to get enough money to begin investing when I’m 19 / in college. I really want to prepare in the best way possible and not stay at a 9-5 very long if at all.  I want to begin my journey as early as I can and begin my path towards financial freedom in the field I am interested in.

if you suggest getting a job in RE or getting into a mentorship or company in RE please if you have any suggestions or ins let me know.  

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, I really appreciate everything this community does.