18 Year Old Highly Motivated Real Estate Entrepreneur

[Mason A.]

Hello everyone,

I am an 18 year old, newly graduated former student with goals as high as the sky. I have taken an extreme interest in the world of stock trading & real estate investing. I have come here to seek advice from many of you & hopefully be pointed in the right direction or given tips to help me become more successful.

After extensive research, I feel as if buying rental properties is the smartest investment for me and the best way of passive income. 

My plan is to continue working at both of my jobs, get my credit score above 580, and then apply for an FHA insured loan when I have roughly 3.5% for a down payment for a Duplex. I plan to owner occupy one side since that is a requirement (must live there within 60 days of closing). From there, I will hopefully break even/profit a small amount from the rent I charge to the tenant on the other side, while simultaneously saving much of my paycheck to begin saving for another multi family home.

Now, my questions. Is this a smart first step to building a large mound of passive income? I understand it will take work on my end, but eventually I will hand off to a property management team.

Can I actually build serious wealth/net worth by acquiring rental properties? My bold, yet serious, goal is to own 25 rental properties by the time I am 30. I'm hoping I will be making enough positive cash flow that some of the houses will be fully paid off, thus giving me higher cash flow to continue buying houses at a rate of 1-2 per year to start. 

Lastly, will people not take me seriously given my young age? I might barely be a legal adult, but I am and always have been a hard worker, very money motivated, and business oriented. 

I look forward to hearing from you all, and in helping me reach my goal of becoming rich at a young age!

Thank you all,

Mason