Best way to use 5-10k to get started in real estate?

[Gary Kuang]

HI guys, I just graduated college about a year and a half ago and I spent the last year or so paying off my students loans.I finally got it all paid off and I am starting to save some money. I have about 5-10K to use at the moment and would like to get started in real estate investing. I know its not a ton of money, so i am just looking for some opinions on the best way I can spend this money starting out or should I wait until I have more of a budget before getting into investing? Thanks in advance!

[Michael G.]

Wholesaling start-up costs are pretty low. $1000 to $1500 for bandit signs is a good start. Another $600 for a start-up direct mail campaign. Spending that amount can generate another $7K - 12k on your first campaign. There are a lot of good posts on wholesaling on BP but since you are so unfamiliar with it I would get acquainted with the discipline first. You can always call me direct. I love to talk about wholesaling.

Some other posters made some good points about investing in upstate NY. Considering you live in NYC, investing in Buffalo buy and holds is not a bad idea IF you know what you are doing and where to invest. You say you know the areas in and around Buffalo but there are some nuances to cash flow properties and investing in them can bite you hard if you are unsavvy. One that immediately comes to mind is selecting the right property management company. Selecting the wrong one can cost you thousands ($$$$) of dollars if they mis-manage your property. (Fake repairs or inflated repair costs, not filling your vacancies in a timely fashion, not actively managing your vacant property leaving you susceptible for break -ins.) ***don’t get me started on property management com

I did a good amount of investing in Rochester NY back in 2005 when you could buy houses for 30K and the seller would hold a note for 15K of that purchase price. Again...its 5 hours from NYC driving and you have to be super confident in the property managers ability to manage your property.

Allentown PA on the other hand offers buy and holds in the same price point but is only 2 hours away driving so you can easily self-manage the properties if you want IF they are in good shape.