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Updated about 2 years ago, 10/08/2022
What got you into REI?
Gooooood morning everyone!
I am very curious to hear how different folks got into real estate investing!
For me, It all started a few months prior to turning 18 years old. I was bored on my computer at home one day, and something told me to look up what investing was. I acted on the urge and did so, and a lifechanging big bang went off in my head. I started to learn about this new alternate lifestyle and learning about no longer trading time for money and building assets that grow in the background while your time is spent in better places, etc. I discovered Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki, the Richest Man in Babylon by George Clason, and a few other books, and I was 100% sold on this direction.
The first steps I took in my investing journey was starting to save up my 1st $1,000 in an old wallet, with the intention of opening my own fidelity brokerage account when I turned 18.
I did and started buying my first few stocks, learned a very valuable lesson about NEVER panic selling and acting on emotion, and eventually realizing that it was more fitting for my strategy to simply open a Roth IRA with them and essentially dollar cost average contributions into several index funds to fill it up every year.
I continued to keep digging, and eventually found real estate. My previous limiting beliefs of needing “20% down conventional” and “Someday down the line I’ll invest in real estate when I have a lot more money” were quickly squashed after realizing the power of low down payment loans and owner occupancy! I got pre approved, had a couple deals fall through for different reasons in a nearby city, and had to reevaluate.
I found out that I very much enjoyed the 3-4 unit space, and I had to start looking in another part of Massachusetts to be in a pricepoint that was more fitting than where I was previously looking.
I ended up closing on an on market 3 family property in Leominster, MA in December of 2021 at the appraised value of 470k, owner occupied ever since, and am looking to move back into my parent's house when my owner occupancy 1 yr requirement is satisfied in a couple months and rent the last unit to cashflow somewhere in the $700-$800 range/mo after all expenses are conservatively paid. I also am looking to open a HELOC to leverage some equity in the property from the past year to have funds "at the ready" for the next 6-10 unit opportunity that I am looking to purchase with partners!
I would love to hear your story how you got into the game, and your plans for the future! :)