House Hacking in College

[Austin M Wilder]

Growing up I was a person who hated the idea of assuming debt. I was terrified by the horror stories of students who took out loans to pay for school and don't finish paying it off until their 40's. I also know how tight money can be when your budget allows you to eat noodles and water seven days a week. Until I ran into a person I went to school with who just bought a new car. He told me he bought it with the money left over from the loans he took out for school. I couldn't believe he would blow that money on something like a car. After hearing that I began to do my research and realized that I could use those loans to buy a property instead of a car.

Soon after applying and receiving the amount leftover from my student loan, I used it as a downpayment on a 4b 2b house. I live in one room and invited 2 of my friends to live in the house with me. The two friends cover the note, insurance, maintenance, and utilities. I pay a mere $600 a year to cover the interest on the student loan. This was my first experience building a portfolio that cashflows. I've been excited to share and I hope if you're someone who is in college and want to start investing, I would encourage you look to find opportunities through the way that other people spend their money.