Just starting out, can anyone help?

[Nathan Waddell]

I'm 23 years old and I just started working for a mortgage company for investment properties. This has really sparked my curiosity about real estate investing. I'm curious as to how most people got their start, what kind of properties should I be looking at, how much cash do I need, etc. Basically how to get into buying my first rental property and growing from there on out. I have good credit scores, only about $1,000 in my savings right now because most of my savings goes toward my IRA but I'm able to put back up to $1,000/month if I need too. Can anybody shed some advice to a beginner?

[Marcus Hendren]

Hi NA! I'm still a beginner myself and although my scope is small, maybe I can answer your questions with the actions I took to get started. I live and work in Columbus, Ohio and I figured the best place to start would be in my backyard. The first house I purchased was a 5 bed/ 2 bath house near Ohio State Campus. I sought out FHA financing for the low down payment. The house was ~$183,000 and so my down payment was about $6,400. If compound interest is the 8th wonder of the world, I surmise that leveraging real estate is the 9th. To skip over a bunch of non-essential details, I moved in four of my friends and had them pay the mortgage for me! Most people suggest you start out on a lower rung of the real estate ladder before landlording, but I feel I learn better when my feet is to the fire. Its been a fun couple years.