Real estate investing

[Giancarlo Farro]

How do I get started in investing in real estate? I just graduated from high school and life is getting more serious and I do not know where to start. I can’t stand the thought of a regular 9-5 job and want to be financially free as soon as possible (don’t we all). If you had too start over again with the knowledge you know now, how and what would you do to reach financial freedom? Thank you

[Jody Sperling]

Explore your dread of the 9-to-5. Ask yourself what your ideal is. Real estate is hard work, and if you own rentals, your tenants will challenge you as much as most customers at a 9-to-5 would. Contractors will frustrate you consistently. Things break. Huge chunks of money and time flow toward unexpected projects. I know more people who have abandoned real estate investing than people who have abandoned the 9-to-5.

You have to love this business or it will just be a slightly more lucrative version of the 9-to-5. That said, I love this business and I wish I'd known how money moved, and how to keep it in motion without giving it away. I wish I'd saved and bought a house early, house hacked it, and started building my portfolio a decade sooner. But I'm grateful to be doing it now, because the best time was ten years ago, and the second best time is today.

Best of luck!