How to Start when you are 19?

Question

Hello my name is Casey, I am currently attending school and am actively researching ways to amass wealth. Buying and holding interests me and would like to be a landlord but with not only having little cash on me but actually being in debt from student loans I don't know how or if I shouldn't attempt to make any deals. Any thoughts? Should I wait till I have a degree and perhaps a job before I begin my journey or can I do it now?

Gabriel Garces · Answer

Hi Casey,

I'll tell you my story so far and hopefully it'll help you out.

I'm 22 and I recently graduated college. I studied Civil Engineering and am making $3,200 month. I still live with my parents and I'm saving $2000 a month. After one or two years, I'll be able to put a down payment on my first rental property through traditional financing with a bank. In this time, I'll be building my credit, learning more about real estate through books, seminars/webinars, biggerpockets, and networking. Having a steady job will allow me to get financing easier and having guaranteed income is great. Luckily for me, I do not have any student loans, so you do have to take this into account.

If you choose college, choose a great major with good job prospects.

However, I do suggest you get your real estate license and be an agent. After a couple years you could learn your area really well and learn a lot about real estate in general. And you'll make money in the process. If you're extremely dedicated, get a regular job as well, so you'll have a steady income. Or go to college and be an agent.

We're lucky because we have time on our hands. The more work we put in now, the better. I would also recommend finding other investors in your area and learning from them. I helped this one investor with this rehab; it was a good experience.

I hope this helps you out. Best of luck

Account Closed · Answer

youre gonna end up quitting school because real estate is going to be your new love

Casey Pritchard · Answer

Thank you all for your suggestions I will weigh them very carefully and choose the right one for me.

Best,

Casey

Brian P. · Answer

I don't know, 19 is a little far over the hill and now time is running out, not much time left to do much. O.K. now the real advice, if you want the degree be sure to give that priority. Now your next job is to earn some bucks and pay for your education with as little student loan dollars as you can.

My father in law was born and raised in Rochester and I know if he were still alive his advice would be to go west young man just as the famous publisher said. But you aren't going to do that so focus on a few niches.

I'm not up on Rochester now days but I assume there are some activities you can learn now and use later in your life. When I was young (16) one of my activities was tying up properties with a straight option and then when we (my 19 year old brother) were ready we would fix up and flip. Now days we would have wholesaled many of these but back then a wholesaler was as rare as a dinosaur and investors would say you want to do what?. But we managed to do some wholesaling by assigning contracts to a few contractors that wanted to keep their crews busy plus keep some money coming in.

When my wife's grandfather in Rochester retired he needed some extra income so my wife taught him judgement recovery which he could do on his own schedule, that might be a niche that would fit in with your plan. Also getting your license was mentioned. That could work well too, just limit it to partnering up with a decent agent not doing a lot of production that would welcome getting half of the pie you provide by prospecting, these prospects  you find during the hunt for wholesale deals. The average agent today is really part time even though they claim they are full time, but putting in the hours is not the same as putting in the work. You will be adding putting in the work for your share of the pie on the business you find.

Chai Sag · Answer

HI

I started selling RE at the age of 17.

I didn't have other choice, because my dad was a developer and passed away at that time

I think that one way to start ,would be becoming a realtor, you can sell something, try to get deals, bringing to investors, etc, and you learn on the way about everything

good luck!!

Shae Dean · Answer

Welcome Casey,

If you can financially make it work, it is never too soon to start. Something you could look into is a duplex-quad that you could qualify for and rent it out to local students or friends. This could also enable you to basically live expense free if you can find the right deal and calculate for any expenses. The early on landlord experience could also be very beneficial if you plan on managing your own properties down the road. Check out this article from someone that was in a similar situation. Good luck to you!

http://www.businessinsider.com/college-dropout-building-real-estate-fortune-2015-3

Shawn Mcenteer · Answer

No sense in waiting, if you want to move forward take action.  I can only speak for purchasing a property though standard buying routes but in order to do so you will need to show income for lending.  Having a stable consistent job is important.  There are ways for you to create wealth through real estate.  Becoming a real estate agent or wholesaling are two options that can help build wealth.  You can likely do one or the other or both while in school.

Anyways I can keep going discussing different options but whats most important for you right now is to stay active and figure out which way you want to go.

How to Start when you are 19?

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