18 years old, serious about investing!!

[Kenny Banuelos]

HEY BP FAM! This is my story, an 18 year old anxious to invest!
About 3 years ago my freshman year of high school I was told if I was to house hack after high school I could own 5 properties in 10 year's.

I took that to heart and have been saving money since then reading books and listening to podcasts about finance, business and real estate. I have also taken a lot of classes throughout high school further developing my understanding.

I have had this goal of buying my first duplex and have talked to real estate investors, realtors, lenders, appraisers and have been encouraged so much to where I am anxious to dive into this.

Now that I am 18 I have absolutely no debt, a credit score of 727, I have 28k sitting in a certificate of deposit, a couple years of working consistently under my belt, I've also been investing in my Roth IRA, I feel very blessed to be in this situation.

I am still in high school, I know it wouldn’t be smart to buy a house right now but something in me is so anxious to buy this house I know I have to have patience but I don’t know if I should start the process of getting pre approved, finding a good investor friendly realtor, lender, preparing my documents or if I should just wait.

When analyzing deals in my market I have crystal clear real estate deal criteria my strategy is house hacking a duplex, price range of 500,000-600,00 in Salt lake, Utah! 

Any advice, suggestions or golden nuggets are appreciated I’m 18 but I’m serious about this and I am willing to talk to anyone curious about this information! 

[Jonathan Greene]

Everything in this post is great, but you have to clear the FOMO and thought of scale now. You have positioned yourself exceptionally well at your age, you don't want to mess that up by jumping too quickly. Have you been going to real estate investor meetups in your area? If not, do that for six months and you will know exactly when you should jump from talking to others who did it. They will be impressed with how prepped you are. It's always ok to talk to a lender and agent to build relationships in advance.