I want to be a new investor BUT don’t have a W2 job

[Kai James]

A little about myself:

My name is Kai James. I’m a recent college graduate and I’m looking to start investing in real estate. I am an athlete playing basketball abroad and for about 9-10 months out of the year I have a relatively decent amount as my monthly salary from my employer. Overall I don’t have a W2 from this employer. Where should I start. Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated.

[Brenden Mitchum]

Hey @Kai James, welcome to the BP community!

While not having a w2 will make it tough to get traditional financing there is some good news. 

1. It might be tough but certainly not impossible. You will definitely want to find a rockstar lender to give you your full options. Without knowing much about your situation, I can tell you there are two ways you can qualify for a traditional loan without a w2. The first is by getting a cosigner. This could be a family member, your gf, a close friend, etc. As long as they have a w2, the lender will use that as the income source when underwriting. The second way is to be patient and wait till you have two years of non-w2 job history. Check with your lender for specifics on both of these options.

2. You can certainly invest in real estate without obtaining conventional financing. You can obtain seller financing, hard money, private money (friends and family), and a number of other creative options and combinations. If you want to know more about creative financing, I highly recommend you read Brandon Turner's The Book on Investing in Real Estate with Low and No Money Down.

If you have any other questions or just wanna chat, please message me at anytime!