How Should I Start my Journey?

Question

Hello, I’m in college at South Carolina, I’m studying Real Estate and Finance as my majors. I’ve listened for a while and I’d love to start investing when I’m out of college. There’s not many replies about starting fresh out of college. Is the best way to do it to get a job under a company (whatever field) and start house hacking/saving money to invest in my first property? Basically should I go out of college into a similar job and build cash for 5-10 years while investing this? I know I want to do short term rentals, but I obviosuly don’t have the money, unless I work a boring 9-5 for a few years.

Travis Timmons · Answer

If you know you want to get into STRs, find properties in your market or market of interest that are managed by Vacasa and Evolve that are underperforming and have guest feedback indicating the the customer service from the host was poor (as it usually is with the big national STR PMs), look up the owner's name on the county or city tax records, and cold call or text them. Say you are getting started co-hosting and will do it for free for the for 3-6 months. Do that until you get someone to bite.

It's going to take a lot of calls or texts to get a customer, but you'll get one eventually. And the second customer will be easier with the credibility and experience of having another. Work the W2, run a STR co-hosting business on the side, pile up money, buy a house hack, rinse and repeat.

Your biggest obstacle is that you are young and have no experience. Don't hide from that. Acknowledge it from the beginning of the conversation if you get an owner on the phone. You'll have to compensate for that with low prices and convincing them that you are young, hungry, and will not be outworked.

Two parting thoughts - your real estate and finance degrees are not going to help you. Don't call a property owner and tout that you have a degree and it qualifies you to manage their property. A person successful enough to have purchased multiple homes is not going to be impressed by your degree. They will, however, be impressed by the fact that you took the initiative to find an underperforming listing, looked up the tax records, and cold called them. Old rich guys love seeing young hungry, ambitious kids being gritty and scrappy. That's your unfair advantage here.

The second is that I don't love your tone toward the "boring 9-5" job. Get one that you are good at doing, don't hate, and have the correct perspective and attitude. You're going to have it longer than you think...even if everything breaks your way, it's a long game. Slow and steady still wins the race.

That was long. Sorry about that...feel free to reach out if you think that I can be a resource. I have nothing to sell and would be happy to help.

Nicholas L. · Answer

Yes

Work the boring 9-5 for as long as you can stand

House hack sequentially

You can combine house hacking and STR

Nathan Gesner · Answer

Why wait until you are out? Hustle and save right now, buy a house, and rent out the rooms to fellow students. When you graduate, fill your space with another student and then buy another house hack while you get started in the business world.

Yes, you should work the "boring 9-5" to generate income and qualify for loans. How do you plan to build wealth without money to invest? And what makes you think you can build wealth in a few years instead of 10-20?

Patrick Roberts · Answer

Househacking is your easiest way in. Get a salaried job in your field as soon as you graduate and leverage that to qualify for a mortgage. Depending on your credit score and a few other factors, you won't need a ton of cash if it's your primary. Rent out whatever part of it you can to get cashflow to offset the mortgage as much as possible. If possible, buy a house that could work as an STR in the future. I concede that this will be difficult to execute in Charleston (affording a house with STR potential as a FTHB straight out of college), so you may have to take a stair-step approach.

In the meantime, get involved with the local REI community. Start attending the meetups and networking. You may find someone to partner with.

Tanner Lewis · Answer

I suggest going into a real estate investing field. I was planning on going to med school so I could buy deals down the road, but I figured it would be better to just jump right in. I would 100% recommend. It allows me to do what I love, and I have seen thousands of deals since I started and put in countless reps closing deals. Invaluable experience if you plan to invest.

Manny Vasquez · Answer

Fresh out of college with no money and no experience, I suggest you:

1.  Get the boring 9-5 so that you can start saving.  Depending how much you earn you can step up those savings by getting a side-hustle in any part of real estate....working for a top Real Estate office on weeknights and weekends, working for an RE Investor, working for a General Contractor and learning a few skills, etc.  This way you can ramp up your savings AND learn some RE skills

2. Buy a property as soon as you can.  The earlier you start in your RE journey, the better off you will be in the future.

3. House-hack, house-hack, house-hack.  This will give you several benefits.  The most obvious is that you will be able to offset your mortgage with renting out a few rooms.  You will then have a few options with that rent money....you can put it into principal or you can start saving it to purchase yet another property.  House hacking will also give you some personal "property management" experience.   This will come in handy as you begin to scale.

4. Decide which game you want to play.  Do you want to be a house flipper? BRRRR?  Real Estate Agent? General Contractor? Buy and Hold?  Do you want to LTR, MTR, or STR?  Or maybe you want to do a combination of the above?

5.  Attend meetups and meet as many people in RE as you can.  Since you are just graduating college you may already realize that it's not what you know, but who you know (as a personal note, I had college friends that were barely passing their classes however they ended up with really good paying jobs due to "who they knew").  As they say, your network will be your net-worth.

6. Timing the market does not work.  However, time in the market makes all the difference in the world!

Good luck on your journey!

V.G Jason · Answer

IF you're coming into this thinking you're already too good and too above working the "9-5", you're doomed.

You need a harsh reality check. Right now, you're a nobody that deserves nothing.

Go work for what you want, join a brokerage, get an appraisal license, get a real estate license, something. Maybe a lender, be at least 2 of the few components it takes to close a house. Pivot from there into lower-entry investing(house hacking), and build up. No one became an investing savant overnight. Build your niche through experience which is a combination of time and seeing opportunities.

Embrace the 9-5 but make it a 7-7, the hard work you put in those formative years will let you later look back and reap the success. You don't just wake up and have 50 houses, and a 8 figure net worth. No one cares about your degrees, they are going to care about how you treat them, how you work/communicate with them, and what kind of results you created. Focus on those areas, those areas are going to require sacrifice from you. If you can't do it, then quit pretending to want it.

Jacopo Iasiello · Answer

Hi Clarence, It's fantastic that you're already planning your real estate investing journey while still in college! Here's some advice on how you can approach starting fresh out of college:

• Gain Experience and Save Money: Consider starting your career in a related field such as real estate brokerage, property management, finance, or construction. Working in one of these fields will provide you with valuable industry knowledge, experience, and networking opportunities. Additionally, it can help you save money to invest in your first property.
• House Hacking: House hacking is an excellent strategy for new investors, especially those just starting out. By purchasing a multifamily property and living in one unit while renting out the others, you can significantly reduce or eliminate your housing expenses. This allows you to save money on rent or mortgage payments while building equity and generating rental income.
• Investing in Short-Term Rentals: While you may not have the funds to invest in short-term rentals immediately after college, you can work towards that goal by saving money and building your credit. Consider starting with a traditional rental property or house hacking first to build up your investment capital. As you gain experience and financial stability, you can transition into investing in short-term rentals.
• Continue Learning and Networking: Take advantage of your time in college to continue learning about real estate investing and finance. Network with professors, industry professionals, and fellow students who share your interests. Attend real estate seminars, workshops, and networking events to expand your knowledge and connections in the industry.
• Set Goals and Create a Plan: Define your short-term and long-term goals as a real estate investor and create a plan to achieve them. Determine how much money you need to save, what type of properties you want to invest in, and the timeline for reaching your goals. Having a clear plan will help you stay focused and motivated as you work towards building your real estate portfolio.
• Be Patient and Persistent: Real estate investing is a long-term game, and success doesn't happen overnight. Be patient and persistent in your efforts, and don't be discouraged by setbacks or challenges along the way. Stay committed to your goals and continue taking steps towards achieving them, one day at a time.

Hope it helps!

Gregory Schwartz · Answer

Go GAMECOCKS!

Read "Set for Life". Get a good W-2 job. House Hack. Figure the rest out as you go.

Dont over complicate it.

Enjoy the journey

Michael Smythe · Answer

@Clarence Jones unless you can raise lots of funds for investing and start your own syndications, you won't make a living at RE investing for several years.

Most of us have a day job and build up our portfolios over time to get them where we have enough to quit the 9-5.

How Should I Start my Journey?

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