Investing while in College

[Sam Westfall]

Hi guys,

I'm pretty new to the bigger pockets community, but after listening to the bigger pockets podcasts I figured I'd make a forum post to see what the bigger pockets community thinks about my situation. I am currently a full time college student in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (I have about 2 years left). I have a credit score above 700, no loans, just started a part time job 15 hours a week at $10 an hour, and have saved up about 15k. In my area, there is mostly multifamily houses for sale around 350k. This seems like it is way out of my budget and risk tolerance, so I started to look in neighborhoods in Wisconsin within 2 hours of where I live that have single family/duplexes for sale under 100k. My family thinks I should wait until I'm out of school, but I am very passionate about this and excited to learn about real estate investing first hand. I guess I'm looking for what approach an experienced investor would do in my situation, or if I should wait and just continue to build my knowledge until I'm out of school.

Looking forward to responses!

[Bryan Balducki]

@Sam Westfall in my opinion, get started as quick as you can. Make sure the numbers make sense on the deal and maybe see if a family member or friend will co-sign with you to start your real estate journey. It may be tough to qualify for a loan with a part time job, so I’d talk to an investor friendly lender about what options you have. Also, make sure you have enough in reserves after your down payment so I would increase your savings rate if you can. Great on you for wanting to get in early. Don’t wait to buy real estate, buy real estate and wait. Hope this helps!