23 year old law student –– $30k in bank

[Zach Cohen]

Hey everyone, 

New here! I've been interested in real estate for a a while now and have been listening to the podcast for about 6 months. Currently I'm a second year law school student in Miami and work park time during school (I make only about $500/month since most of my time is focused on studying). However, I have a full-ride, so school is free and my living situation is also free, with my only expenses being up to $300/month. I have no debt at the moment and $30k stashed away in the stock market, but want to get into real estate, specifically short term rentals probably in the Orlando area. What is the best way for me to do this? Is it possible without a significant income to get a mortgage on a single family home? Would it more likely to get approved for a mortgage if I had a parent co-sign? Any tips are greatly appreciated. 

[Colleen F.]

@Zach Cohen your best move now is to  continue to study real estate along side your law studies. If the 30k is in stocks and that is it besides your  your small income conserve it for now. you are at least halfway possibly more in your education so pulling stock money if you don't have other reserves probably isn't a good move.  yes a parent can cosign and see if your state has first time home buyer loans so maybe you can live in and  rent rooms to start. However  you might want to watch/read about pitfalls of real estate investing for a bit longer and run property numbers before jumping in.