17 trying to figure out what to do.

[Yaakov S.]

Hey! I'm 17 years old, I've graduated high school and currently doing an accelerated college degree. in the meantime I'm working a full time job/ a few side Hustles and a budding business. I currently have a little over 35k in high yield savings and I'm on pace to have around 100k when I'm 18, I have a bit of money in stocks but I've always wanted to get into real estate, ive been watching the bigger pockets podcast for a while and ive also read quite a few books, i know how to value properties and I have 2 people who are willing to cosign deals for me. What I'm trying to find out is... Where do I start? (Looking for long term buy and hold)

[Kiernan LaFaver]

Welcome to the community! I’m in the Syracuse ny area.
so you’re looking where to invest. It’s important to figure out your goals and objectives, and then that will ultimately give you a few areas that you can narrow it down to. Everything is highly individualistic and there isn’t a “right or wrong”, but what works best for you and your situation.
1) what is your ultimate goal for your ideal investment property? Is cash flow the main objective? Appreciation? A combination of both? It’s important to figure out what metrics are important to you.
2) what Class areas are you looking in? Each class has different tenant pools, appreciation, turnover rates, etc. I’ll attach a link to a page that describes this in detail as there’s some things to note.

https://www.realtymogul.com/knowledge-center/article/what-is...

3) who’s your ideal tenant? While you can’t completely control who applies to live in your properties, you most definitely can find areas that are popular with students, young professionals, families, etc.

4) just as important as finding the property, you need to have an exit strategy in mind for the property. Will your identified markets be an easy or difficult area to sell once it’s time? Is this a 5 year property or a 20 year property? All things to consider.

5) how do you plan on managing the property? Out of state can be difficult if you don’t have a reliable team in place. Property managers can also be expensive. Typical rates are 8-12% of income either monthly or yearly depending on manager. Obviously, this can impact your overall cash flow.
6) it’s important to find an agent that knows the area well and understands how to work with an investor, as the process is very different than buying a primary residence.

these are all things to consider, and there is going to be a learning curve associated with the process. I’m happy to be a resource for any questions you may have as you start out the process!