What can I do in this stage of my life?

Question

David D'Errico · Answer

buy a small multi family that you can house hack, it will save you tons and teach you about real estate investing at the same time

Ali Hashemi · Answer

Save save save! It’s very hard to do anything without a downpayment. You probably don’t have many expenses right now so it’s the best time to save.

Ralph Noack · Answer

Depending on your student housing situation...

If you're moving away to go to school, instead of paying a monthly rent for your housing, see if there's a way to buy a small 3 bedroom house & live in it while renting out the other 2 rooms. I know of a few people that used their student loans to put a down payment on a house just for this purpose. Came out of post-secondary school with no housing debt & some real time REI experience.

Joe Splitrock · Answer

Account Closed the best advice for a young person like yourself is to learn to control your spending. Drive a cheap used car, don't eat at restaurants, never get Starbucks, don't go to the bar, buy inexpensive clothing and only buy things you absolutely need. The point of all this is to save money. Any money you can invest into rental properties when you are young will make you wealthier when you are older. Time is your greatest asset. Property values and rents both increase over time and your mortgage gets paid down. Any personal sacrifice now to invest, will pay out 100X in the future. Getting a college degree is very important. Accounting is a great degree choice, not only does it give you good career options, but having a fundamental understanding of numbers is critical to investing.

Good luck!

Sam Shueh · Answer

Go see your career counciler.

Ralph Noack · Answer

One more thing... BP has awesome webinars weekly (I think) that are about 1 1/2 hrs long & also very informative.

And again...FREE.

Ralph Noack · Answer

Regarding books, as theend of every podcast, the guest makes 2 book recommendations. 1 is specifically for Real Estate & the other more for Business in general.  Free recommendations from the pros. Prefect.

Ralph Noack · Answer

Welcome, Evan. You have made an excellent decision. There's so much you can do. Some things cost a lot of money, some cost a little bit & may are free.

When I started out on BP (BiggerPockets) a 1 1/2 yrs ago, it overwhelmed me. I didn't know the lingo of Real estate investment. And additionally, I live in Canada, so some of the things that I see or hear on BP or from other US-based sources don't apply to me or they may have different terminology. I attended a free seminar that was focused on wholesaling. interesting but I was too new & most of it didn't make sense to me. Then I got hooked up with BP (don't even remember how) & I discovered the podcasts. I started listening to the podcasts & at first, it was like a firehose of information, most of which wasn't making sense to me. But I noticed that after a few, things started to click. ideas  & strategies were making sense & I was getting used to the REI (Real Estate Investment) language & financial terms. Wow. what a difference. now I've listened to about 180 of the 280 or so podcasts that are available.  They are very useful. Want to hear a part over again, rewind & listen again. Then I found out that they were also on Youtube also helpful, but I'm mostly listening while driving.  However you do it doesn't matter. Point is its free. And many of the podcast guests have also offered free resources as well.

I find the whole REI community very giving. It always amazes me that people are willing to offer up how they have found success or failures, often for free.

If you can attend a local meet up, those can be very helpful. Even if its just getting to know your local activity & REI people that you can connect with.  I have just started a few months ago & we are tied in with several different meetups. Some are free, some cost money. If you look at it as a cost of your REI education, then you're ahead of the guy that doesn't want to spend any money to learn. In my area (Southen Ontario, Canada), I could attend several every week, within an hour's drive if I wanted to.

Books are free at the library. If they don't have the book you're after, they often can bring it in. That's pretty cheap.

Don't mess with the gurus that will bait you in with crazy unrealistic offers & little chance of true success. These guys are there to line their pockets, not yours. You're in a great spot. Wish I would have made a similar decision when I was 19. I waited til I was in my late 40's. At least I made the decision.

Best of luck

Mark Jones · Answer

Account Closed my recommendation to someone in your position is always to get a part time job doing something in real estate. Even if it doesn’t exactly fit with what you think you want to do. Look at property management companies, brokerages, title companies, etc. You’ll get paid while getting some valuable experience.

What can I do in this stage of my life?

Most Popular Reply