Advice on where to start

[Miles Dirmann]

Hello, I just graduated college (in 3 yrs) with a finance degree and am finally ready to go all in on real estate investing. The thing is I don't quite know where to start especially in today's economy. I have read a number of bp books and have built up a solid amount of business knowledge especially in marketing as I have helped with a number of marketing oriented projects at my church. Also, I have about $8k in cash and no debt at all!  I'm going to start looking for a few meetups each week to go to and analyze properties daily.. I don't have a job at the moment aside for working at my church on the side. Any thoughts, suggestions, etc.?? Thanks all

[Tanner Lewis]

Quote from @Travis Timmons:

Maximize your W2 earnings, get a 2nd job, swallow your pride and live at home (if that's an option), don't spend a dime on anything if it is not food, housing, or transportation, and pile up money. 

House hacking is the obvious first move. Save up enough for a single family home in as good of a location as you can afford, buy it, and get roommates. Rinse and repeat after that - keep working like crazy, keep delaying gratification, and start saving up for the next house hack. 

It's going to be harder than you think and take longer than you expect. Slow and steady still wins the race, though.

I agree with the notation that you should increase your income; however, it does not necessarily have to be W2 income. Since DSCR loans are now a thing, I think it makes more sense to get a 1099 job and scale your income faster.

This is the boat I am in, too. I just graduated from UVA a year ago, and I initially had a W2 job. I recently switched over to 1099 so I can increase my income and dump it into real estate. It's pretty hard to invest with $8k since most lenders have a $100k minimum loan amount, meaning you will need about $35k to buy a property after the 20% down and the associated closing costs.