Recommended Savings Before Looking At Rentals

[Elias Wiscovitch]

As I'm learning about how I go about my BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) of putting a down payment on a property by the end of this year (I am almost 18), I'm wondering how much should I save up before dipping my feet into REI. (I'm aware of the strategies I'll be taking in terms of increasing credit score through small credit card payments etc)

For example, I live in NYC, a market that is infamous for being high-barrier entry, so I would mostly be looking at rental properties in the New Jersey area. Say I find a house where I have to put 15k down, how much should I have in savings on top of that for renovations, expenses, or the like.

Of course, getting financed is probably the only realistic way to go about this, (and that’s a different question on how to get people to take a kid like me seriously, even if I find a good deal and offer 80% equity or something)