Starting Out With Existing Debt

[Ryan Bourque]

Hello all. New here from Phoenix, AZ. I am new to the game and have been reading / listening / absorbing as much information I can about beginning a journey in real estate investing. Before truly moving onto that journey, over the course of the past couple years, I have been on a very strict debt free journey. Just over a couple years ago, I was in a massive amount of debt, mainly student loans (almost 100k) and as of today, I have about 24k left to go and plan to be 100% debt free by August 2020. As I get closer and close to this goal, my mind is thinking about 'what's next?' which is what got me more and more interested in REI. My goal is to start out with a SFH REI, as this seems to fit my situation both logistically and financially when I am ready. Which leads me to my question with this post. Since I am still currently on a path to become debt free, along with trying to save as much money as possible (I have about 10k in savings), should I just stick with this 'grind' for the time being and continue to educate myself in REI? I will admit that I am now extremely gun-shy of taking out loans, since I put myself in a very bad situation with student loans; however, I do not plan on letting that fear takeover with REI. The thought of taking out more loans while trying to get out of one now is a bit overwhelming, but I also do not want to 'spin my wheels' and not take action.

So, what are your thoughts on diving into REI with existing debt?

Thank you!