Starting out in college?

Question

I need some advice on whether I'm going in way to early or not. I plan on investing in rental properties after I get out of college, but I figured why not start now if I was able to. I've been looking in the $80,000-$100,000 range and found some decent houses that I could use as rentals. I can make the 20% down payment on the houses in my range, so that's not a problem. I also have a family member in the business that would be willing to help me out with management. Am I in over my head or should I try it out?

Also, sorry if this is in the wrong place.

Elizabeth Colegrove · Answer

@Kelsey Truitt Where are you living now? Where are you planning on investing? How much longer do you have in college?I know many of us including myself got started by buying a personal property (less down cheaper interest rates). Than we rented them out when we move on having a rental. You are in an unique in great place that you have a ready made group of students to rent out your rooms while you are there. At the amounts you describe you should be able to live free. If you live in the house your down payment is 3.5-5%. The only issue you might have is qualifying. I personally had planned on starting this way until I got a residence assistance job on campus.

Kelsey Truitt · Answer

Wow thank you all for the response! Much appreciated. I've been reading quite a bit on this forum and other places too. As well as listening to the BP podcasts. I will definitely take a look at your dropbox material too.

Account Closed · Answer

@Kelsey Truitt Welcome to BP!How much reading, etc have you done on investing so far? There's lots of great books, podcasts (including BiggerPockets) out there, and a great way to learn. Here's a list of books that I really enjoyed. Best of luck to you!https://www.dropbox.com/s/4342p58835rvsit/My%20Personal%20List%20of%20Books%20VA.pdf

Steven Thompson · Answer

Kelsey, It is great that you have help getting started. I would recommend networking with investors in your area. Having a large resource of people and information will help aid in your success. Here are some very useful tips to help aid in your success;1.Get to know your market- determine the type of investments you are looking into and figure out what will best suit your personality i.e. Condo's, Town Homes, Single Family Residences, or Multi Family Residences .2.What are the rental rates in your area- sometimes you will find that you can spend $100,000.00 in one area and get $800.00 a month in rent, but if you had bought a property 7 miles over you would spend the same amount of money but have received $1,100.00 instead.3.Negotiate a good price- If you can get an $80,000.00 property for $60,000.00 why not. 4.Plan out all of your expenses and put yourself in a good position.Bigger pockets have some great pod cast that you can listen to with hours of very useful information to help aid you in your investing career. I myself started as a wholesaler so that I could learn how to find and negotiate great deals. You will find that this site will help aid in your successful if you apply the resources and information to your career. I hope this helps and good luck to you.Steve

Kelsey Truitt · Answer

Thank y'all for your help! Most of my money right now is tied up in various mutual funds and stocks. Real estate is something that I would like to move into full time, eventually. So , my money is already invested.

Jose M. · Answer

I was/am in a similar situation. I am planning on investing in RE soon after I am done with college (next May). I have decided against starting investing while in college and here a are a few reasons why:1. Location - though I know the general area where I will end up working purchasing RE will make it harder to relocate and may limit your job options.2. Time - RE is a part time job. It sounds like you may have people to help you, but you will still have invest a lot of your time into the business. Do you have enough extra time during the school year to invest in RE?3. IRA - If you want to invest you can still invest in IRA which will be completely hands off.4. You will know a lot more of RE by the time you graduate then you do now. However, others may have found that starting while in college was the right decision for them. I am very interested in what you decide and how it works for you.-Joey

Lance Johnson · Answer

@Kelsey Truitt - if you have a network of people around to help you and management isn't going to be an issue for you, then the decision really comes down to your risk profile and your plans for the future. The earlier you start investing for the future, the better off you will be in the long-term; however, real estate can be risky, so you need to make sure that you don't put anything on the line that you're absolutely unwilling to lose or that you think you are going to need to get your feet on the ground after graduating. There are so many people on this forum who would be happy to help and answer questions, and the BP podcast is a treasure trove of information. Start small, keep it simple, learn the ropes, and then take it from there.