Starting real estate while paying off student loans

[Walter Feeney]

Was wondering what people’s general thoughts were on investing in real estate while paying off student debt. Is this something that should prevent you from taking on more debt to buy your first property?

[Charles Carillo]

@Walter Feeney

This is a normal situation we hear about on BP. I typically will tell people to pay off their student debt before investing. Student debt is not releasable by bankruptcy and will most likely follow a person until it is paid off. However, we are on BP and it is assumed we are more financially sophisticated. I personally purchased 2 rental properties before paying off my student debt and used that cash flow to payoff mine but there is certainly more risk. You now have another loan (a mortgage) and a property with tenants that you need to manage. If your property is not cash flowing, you might be out of pocket on 2 loans.