What would you do with 10K?

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Keep the $10K in the bank and learn to do a deal with no money out of pocket. Seriously. Pick a market, figure out what sells and what doesn't sell, figure out how you can reach sellers that other can't. Figure out how to negotiate a deal with enough of a spread so you can re-sell it for a profit. IMO, a marketing campaign is a waste of dollars 1) until you know how to do this, and 2) know if you like working with sellers or buying RE. While you're researching your market, look at hundreds of houses, drive by everything for sale, go to all the open houses. Study the listings, and study the sold data. Play RE investor on paper first. Find out what you are curious about and what turns you off. Don't throw any money at RE until you know what you like, what interests you and what your minimum ROI goals are.

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Hi Denise D! $10K is a good investment to get you started. If you are going to be doing marketing to find motivated sellers, you might start with a $1K per month marketing budget - on direct mail to specifically targeted homeowners - for the next 5 months. Keep $5K in reserve for expenses - earnest money, etc. Try to land a deal within those first 5 months that takes you to the next level - it's certainly possible to turn that $10K into $50K before the year is up! P.S. Good blog here in BP on 5 ways to buy a house with $2K ~ http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2013/06/25/buy-a-house-with-2000-or-less/

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Dev Horn Dev: thanks for the kind words. I'm just paying forward what others taught me. Most of what I learned in the beginning was from contributors on RE message boards. Back then, there was more interest and focus on "creative" real estate (for better and for worse). In early 2000 there was a REI conference coming up in Atlanta in April. The cost was something like $300 plus hotel plus airfare. Someone on one of the message boards challenged me to buy a property with nothing out of pocket and double close or assign the contract for at least a $3K fee, thereby being able to afford the conference. I managed to put a property under contract for $11.5, collected a $5K assignment fee up front from the buyer and she closed with the seller (who I never met or even spoke with as she contacted me once through email and escrow took care of the rest). I went to the conference. I had a great time and a great story. There's something for everyone in RE. Rentals, notes, new construction, rehabs, lending. It takes some experimentation and self knowledge to figure out the right niche.

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I would use it to get your broker license, hire a book keeper and go into Hard Money lending. I feel the market for that will be heating up very soon given that people will soon be priced out of conventional financing if rates keep going up. People will be looking for short term 2nds, private 1sts, and private refinances.

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Hi Steven Zagaris, interested in what it would cost, and what it would take to get into the Hard Money lending field. Anymore information on this Steven?

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I'd invest it in GOOG! Hey, you didn't specify it had to be in RE.

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I would like to thank everyone once again who responded on this post. I created a personal challenge based mostly off the responses and ideas I received in this post. Here is the link to the challenge: http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/12/topics/93906-get-started-wholesaling-with-no-money-a-challenge-for-you

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Denise D make sure it's in an interest bearing account while you're figuring out how to use it! Most banks have money market accounts and they're fairly liquid, so if you choose to use it as a down payment you can get it out at any time. Also keep in mind that if you buy a property, you really need a cushion. A roof repair or some other big ticket item could come up and it could take 6+ weeks to get financing for a $7,000 repair. In the meantime your investment is getting damaged by water.

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Denise D I do not have much to add, the advice you got from K. Marie Poe, Dawn A., and Karen Margrave was excellent. You need to know the area of real estate you are going to work in BEFORE you spend your money in it. One of the advantages of real estate is you can find a part of it that you truly enjoy doing and make earning a living both more rewarding in terms of income and in quality of life.

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@Deborah Saddler A hard money lender is essentially a bank - you'll have to underwrite, draw docs, appraisals, title services etc. - you can partner as an investor with existing firms starting @ 50k... typical buy ins probably roughly 500k. To learn more you can call existing hard money lenders and ask them about their investor programs. It's not out of reach but its encouraged to know people personally that either own their own firms or have the resources to launch your own - you're basically starting a bank its one notch under wholesale/secondary markets.