What would you tell your 19 year old self?

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What would you tell your 19 year old self?

Bailey Kramer
Rental Property Investor · Denver, CO · Member since 2019 · 231 posts · 256 votes

Hey, Bigger pockets community. My name is Bailey Kramer and I am 19 years old.  I am just beginning my real estate journey and have fallen in love with the idea of multi-family as an investment strategy.  I have a base knowledge from books, podcasts, youtube videos, and reading forums, but I definitely want to get first-hand experience.  I am most interested in multi-family properties because I love the scalability potential amongst many other things.  I would love to hear about your story in the real estate industry, and if you could, answer the question, "What would you tell your 19-year-old self?"

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Joseph CacciapagliaBusiness Member
Lender · San Antonio, TX · Member since 2020 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
6y

I would tell my 19 year old self to skip college, skip graduate school, skip law school, don't buy any of the guru's courses, then go get a real estate license, find a broker with an in-house property management team and a great training/mentor program, start selling properties, find some successful investors to work with, and model their business. Also, spend much less time reading about real estate, and a lot more time building a team and making offers. Once you've read 5-7 great books on real estate, there isn't that much more to learn, until you actually start doing. Maybe read one book a quarter, instead of 1 a week (that's what I did for the first several years). You don't need to know a lot about several strategies, you need to gain experience with one. Which one doesn't really matter. Don't be afraid to give up a lot of equity, to get your first several deals going.

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  • Nelson Lin
    Investor · Austin, TX · Member since 2019 · 17 posts · 11 votes
    6y

    25 year old here, don't waste your money dating.

    Ok, now the important stuff.

    1. Hey 19 year old nelson, good job doing engineering at a state school, now you've got killer income to qualify for loans (and can pay your own off in the first year of work) and the math/programming ability to do real estate analytics at scale.

    2. Get started in real estate sooner. There's so many programs you could have taken advantage of/people to build equity with when I was in college but I wasn't paying attention then

    3. Start a business sooner related to the field you're interested in, iPhone repairs was good money and landed me my first internship. My regret is not starting a property management side gig in my college town

    4. You are the average of the people you surround yourself with 

    Best of luck


    2Reply
  • Nick Heil
    Specialist · Corry, PA · Member since 2015 · 75 posts · 67 votes
    6y

    I was lucky in that I was passionate about personal finance and investing from an early age, probably 9th grade. So I started investing in the stock market early, knew the importance of a high savings rate, and have always been cautious about spending. I only use debt for real estate/business deals and I'm well on my way to building some significant wealth and I'm only 28. However, what I would tell myself at 19 is to buy my first house hack sooner. I went to college for Finance and moved to Philadelphia after college to work a finance job for a couple years. I waited until I moved home two years later until I bought my first house hack. It was a great buy, I just wish I would have done one in college, and again when I lived in Philadelphia, and then I would have been on my third by time I moved home. 

    1Reply
  • Jonathan Farber
    Rental Property Investor · Medellin, Colombia · Member since 2016 · 231 posts · 215 votes
    6y

    @Bailey Kramer

    1. House hack as soon as possible

    2. Start a podcast as soon as possible to build your network faster than any other strategy

    3. After recording 30 episodes, pick your favorite 5 and ask them once a week what you can do to bring them value

    4. Once you start to help them with their busy work (bring them value), ask them how to start finding deals

    5. Once your find deals, they will help you find and close these deals

    Rinse and repeat until you’re a gajillionaire

    1Reply
  • Deniz Eker
    Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2019 · 102 posts · 48 votes
    6y

    Start house hacking as soon as possible .

    Spend more time learning about real estate instead of getting a degree

    1Reply
  • Todd Powell
    Rental Property Investor · Corvallis, OR · Member since 2018 · 840 posts · 1k+ votes
    6y

    @Bailey Kramer I would say to buy and hold back sooner in life when I felt the real estate tugging at me. Don’t take advice from negative people and people that aren’t more successful as they will be negative towards real estate investing. I would’ve had many more deals but I passed over listening to other people the good news is I built a pretty nice cash flow net worth and didn’t have to start at 19 years old. So you’re smart for asking this question right now

    1Reply
  • Frank Wong
    Real Estate Broker · Bay Area · Member since 2018 · 1k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    6y

    Whatever you think it will take, whatever time you think it will be, and the amount of work that is needed X that by 10. The road is not easy it's not hard it just takes a lot of time and commitment.

     Don't ever give up. Its 100% worth it. 

    2Reply
  • Nelson Van
    Rental Property Investor · Virginia Beach, VA · Member since 2019 · 23 posts · 25 votes
    6y

    @Bailey Kramer

    1) Find a commission/bonus based job and learn how to sell at a very high level

    2) Start studying real estate

    3) Save money up for a house hack and buy one ASAP(at this age this could be a Single Family and rent rooms out to friends)

    4) Live your life like a 19 year old with no responsibility and have as much fun as possible without risking your future all while paying yourself first!

    3Reply
  • Matthew Irish-JonesBusiness Member
    Real Estate Agent · Buffalo, NY · Member since 2017 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    6y

    @Bailey Kramer buy more units.

    Irish Jones Realty4.947 Reviews
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    1Reply
  • Wyatt Johnson
    Flipper/Rehabber · Billings, MT · Member since 2017 · 35 posts · 17 votes
    6y

    @Jim Nettles

    It sounds like you want your kid to go to college in order to get a good job so that he can save up money faster and then invest in real estate. Did I read that right?

    0Reply
  • Bill Goodland
    Rental Property Investor · Allentown PA, United States · Member since 2016 · 567 posts · 442 votes
    6y

    @Bailey Kramer I probably would’ve told myself to get started working in the business sooner. While I may not have been able to buy a place at 19, I would have been able to go to real estate meet ups, maybe get my license and do some contracting work on the side doing something simple with low barrier to entry such as paint or flooring work

    1Reply
  • Anthony Wick
    Rental Property Investor · Ankeny, IA · Member since 2017 · 2k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    6y

    @Bailey Kramer. "Choose your partner(s) very carefully."  That means, life partner and business partners. If those people are not like minded as you, turn around and walk away. 

    2Reply
  • Anthony Wick
    Rental Property Investor · Ankeny, IA · Member since 2017 · 2k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    6y

    @Bailey Kramer

    Here's my second answer......"Don't do it. That's a stupid idea."

    0Reply
  • Caleb Brown
    Real Estate Agent · Kansas City · Member since 2018 · 4k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    6y

    I am 20 and been in real estate since High School. What I would tell my 19 year old self is to save, focus on building relationships and REI, and think outside the box.

    3Reply
  • Jim Nettles
    Rental Property Investor · Ormond Beach, FL · Member since 2020 · 15 posts · 4 votes
    6y

    @Wyatt Johnson Going to college first and learning finance and other business principles are what my wife and I think he should do.  However we are not fully convinced this is the one and only patch to success.  We don't want to force him to go to school.  Just worried he won't have a backup or contingency plan should RE market or his business prospects should not be prosperous enough.  I was just curious what paths other experienced investors have taken and if they would do anything different.  Appreciate any information anyone can provide.  Thanks.

    0Reply
  • Jack Young
    Investor · Prince George, British Columbia · Member since 2016 · 62 posts · 12 votes
    6y

    Nothing here is rocket science, live on next to nothing and work hard! Save, Save, Save. No consumer debt....ever. You don't need it. Your way of doing things is and will be different from everyone so take the how to's with a grain of salt and use what you think will work. The most important thing you can know is how the numbers work so analyze deals and think about what can make them perform better, call another investor or 3 and ask them about the idea, call a contractor or 3 you've never met and ask them how they would solve the problem, because chances are there's something you havn't thought about. There are deals out there, all over the place, you just need to know what they are and how they work so keep looking. Find your system and never stray from it, just update it as you go along. Network... just do it in free time, No procrastinating! Read/listen to education, a book a week. You don't need stuff so don't buy it. House hack, buy and live in a multi family, work hard and get your feet wet. Ask questions and take notes. Find someone with success story that could be yours, idolize them. Someone who started young and is making things happen like @Scott Trench or Elon Musk and read their book, let it drive you. Don't waste your money and save. Keep a cash cushion because you never know when you might need it for something bad or an amazing deal comes along you want to jump on. find your WHY and use that energy to push you EVERYDAY. Learn to negotiate, chances are you can. Make money and save it. When it comes down to crunch time, you will need you! So most importantly take care of yourself, there will come a time when you need to be performing at your best, sleep, eat well and exercise. The flip, emergency or deal you find in a couple months or years will need your strength and stamina to push through and get it done. One thing at a time, finish what your working on first. Don't EVER give up. CRUSH IT!

    3Reply
  • Joshawn McFadden
    Flipper/Rehabber · Saint Louis, MO · Member since 2020 · 12 posts · 2 votes
    6y

    @Bailey Kramer read rich dad poor dad an Invest early as possible

    1Reply
  • Alf Holst
    Rental Property Investor · Conyers, GA · Member since 2017 · 51 posts · 14 votes
    6y

    @Bailey Kramer

    I would tell myself to learn more about finance. Assets, liabilities, debt, etc.

    2Reply
  • Joe Cassandra
    Rental Property Investor · Woodstock, GA · Member since 2017 · 517 posts · 772 votes
    6y

    I'd disagree with a lot of the advice here to start investing as fast as possible. 

    You likely don't have a ton of money (as most of us didn't at 19 yr old). 

    I'd recommend: 

    1) Find someone you can work under...if for free or a little bit. Learn the business and LEARN HOW TO SELL. 

    2) Enjoy being young

    You're only going to look back with regret if you start working 60 hours at age 19. 

    You're young...

    Way young...

    You have plenty of time to make "millions". Focus on the foundational pieces now and then in a couple years, focus on the income/wealth. 

    Most people starting at 30-40-50+ don't have that luxury. They have to build foundation at the same time as income/wealth. Much harder. You can build foundation without the stress of income.

    1Reply
  • Account Closed
    Real Estate Investor · Burnet, TX · Member since 2017 · 29 posts · 17 votes
    6y

    To my 19-year-old self: "#1 - Major in something that interests you. In five years, your life situation is going to make that boring business degree useless, and you'll learn more from experience than you are learning in your undergrad finance class anyway. #2 - don't run a balance on your credit card."

    How that advice would be different for a 19-year-old today: Always think about maximizing your options. I'm a firm believer in education, but going into debt to get it makes no sense today. I still wouldn't advise studying something that bores you, though. Life and youth are too short. Follow your interest in real estate, but have a backup plan. No one knows what's coming with the current crazy economy. If Warren Buffett doesn't, none of us do either. MAXIMIZE YOUR OPTIONS by saving as much as possible and learning as much as you can through reading, talking to experienced people you respect, networking, and traveling a bit if you can afford it. Also maximize your options by NOT spending on things that depreciate like cars and electronic toys. Put that money into savings, education, or learning experiences. Always think, "How does this decision or purchase limit my options down the road?" And this last bit hasn't changed: don't run a balance on your credit card. Good luck!

    1Reply
  • Steve Vaughan
    Rental Property Investor · East Wenatchee, WA · Member since 2014 · 10k+ posts · 16k+ votes
    6y

    I'd tell my 19 year old self to tell my 16 year old self to straighten up so I don't end up in a dirt foxhole in a country I never heard of as a grunt at 19. 

    Then I'd save and learn with a good work/life balance.  I'd work in the trades and save. I'd have more books than video games. Be exceptional. 

    0Reply
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