Newbie: Where do I go next?

Question

Looking for advice on where I need to go next on my journey to financial freedom through real estate.

Currently I am 23 years, make 50k a year plus bonuses, just moved to Denver, basically have 0 in savings, college debt, and a manageable amount of credit card Debt.

My short term goal is to purchase a cash flowing duplex that I can House Hack in the Denver area. Long term goal of course being financial freedom through RE.

What I am looking for are concrete steps I can take to get closer to that duplex in the next 12 months.

Based off all that what do you guys think my next moves should be?

Scott Trench · Answer

@Connor Anderson Welcome to BiggerPockets! I'm grateful that others have recommended my book thank you Ingrid and Jared!). I was in pretty much exactly your situation four years ago (turned 27 last week), starting from scratch making $48K per year in corporate finance, just moved to Denver.

If you'd like, I'd be happy to grab a beer/coffee with you one day next week and chat about real estate and life. Just PM or email me!

Ingrid J. · Answer

@Connor Anderson Having lived frugally the past five years I can tell you the best you can do to get started is to save up a decent amount of cash. Everything I have today comes from the day when I decided to start saving my money. When the bank or a potential business partner sees that you have that good habit of saving, and that you have a lump sum saved up, it makes all the difference in the world. (And if your credit card debt is considerable I would begin by paying that down first. That also shows a strength of will).

Have you read Set for Life by Scott Trench? I recommend it to any newbie wishing to get started in real estate.

Dmitriy Fomichenko · Answer

@Connor Anderson

Welcome to the BP family! Great that you joined the site! Here are some recommendations for you:

Find and connect with other BP members that are in your area:http://www.biggerpockets.com/meetSet up keyword alerts to be notified of the topics that interest you:http://www.biggerpockets.com/alertsRead Beginner’s Guide:http://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investingCheck out BP Podcasts:http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/category/podcast/Wishing you the best!

Connor Anderson · Answer

Thank you @Jared Bouzek @Ingrid J. @Kevin Grinstead for the advice. I have read @Scott Trench 's Set for Life and I have been doing my best to live more frugal than my peers. Paying down the credit card is for sure my first move I think.

Jared Bouzek · Answer

Hey @Connor Anderson. Welcome to Bigger Pockets. There are a few easy things you can do right now:

1. Get to know the lay of the land around Denver. Since you're new to the city, just spend some time learning the layout and where you might like to live and where the good multifamily properties are.

2. Save up money. There will be options for you to put minimal funds down on a multifamily property, but you will still need some starting cash.

3. Your profile says you're a recent college grad. Manage your lifestyle and don't let it get out of control early on. You have some pretty big goals to meet and that will start by delaying the gratification now.

It might be a good idea for you to pick up Scott Trench's book "Set For Life" if you haven't already read it. It should be available in the BP bookstore.

Antoine Martel · Answer

Connor.

Congrats on the move. I think that you need to first and foremost save as much as you can. $0 in savings is not good and will allow you to not invest. Maybe doing house hacking will help you save some more money each month, but nothing wrong with renting a cheap apartment in the meantime. College debt is also something you'll want to take care of. Try to get rid of that college debt as soon as you can. I think it would be best if you could be debt free within the next year or two, then that would allow you to save more cash and go on the offense and now try to bring in some cash flow which would go right to your pocket. You can buy this cash flow through acquiring rental properties, etc.

Connor Anderson · Answer

@Karla Yudy Thanks for the Advice, my Credit Score is not bad now but improvement always helps!

Karla Yudy · Answer

Hey Connor, one thing that I think sometimes gets overlooked but which is extremely important is doing things to improve your credit score an getting access to cheap money. Of the two, I would say having access to cheap money is more important but usually you need good credit in order to get cheap money. What you may want to do over the next 12 months is meet with a financial planner/mortgage broker and have them work out a plan to help improve your credit (not saying your credit is bad to begin with, but many times they may know ways that can get it higher over 6-12 months... even 25-50 point increase adds value).

The other thing I would do is open up credit lines (bank loans, credit cards, personal loans). At first you will probably not get access to a lot of money but over time showing the ability to responsibility manage credit will allow you to increase your limits. Having access to relatively cheap $ is important and takes awhile to build but it is something that you can start doing while you are getting started.

Ingrid J. · Answer

@Connor Anderson Good job! Let us know when you've paid it down and can begin to save towards your financial freedom.

Newbie: Where do I go next?

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