Real Estate Under 18

[Ryan Phu]

Hey thanks for taking your time to read this! I'm Ryan, a 17 year old from San Diego and I would like to get my first property/deal this year. I actually have a decent amount saved up because I used to do dropshipping but I have to be 18 to buy property. My question is, how can I get my first property under 18? Would I have to make an LLC? My plan is to wholesale around my area first (despite the competition) or BRRRR the property. I would househack but I'm still living with my parents and in high school. Anyways if you guys could help me out with any advice I'd totally appreciate it! And if I can help you with anything such as (Instagram Influencer Marketing, Dropshipping, or Facebook Ads) Message me! I have tons of experience with Social Media Marketing that you can read in my bio.

[Tom Kastorff]

@Ryan Phu  Welcome Ryan and congrats on your confidence and gusto. Not many get hip to the potential and power of RE at such a young age. Keep reading, learning, watching webinars and videos, and soaking in the data and strategies. You have 80% of your life left, plenty of time to grow your empire.

As Whitney pointed out I assume there are many legalities that you will have to overcome. Do you know a good lender to chat with? Real estate agent? Those two conversations would probably be my starting point. Can you even get a loan? (for a BRRRR or any other deal that requires you to buy the property). Without a credit score and job showing income I doubt it is possible to even get a loan. Your debt to income ratio would be negative. A lender has nothing to secure the loan against unless you have some rich family savings accounts and your parents on the title. It could get messy, and do your parents want to get involved and share all their finances (loans require a lot of paperwork) and have their names on the hook if something goes wrong?

Wholesaling could be your best (and only) option but you don't see many 17 year old's driving for dollars, door knocking, and getting Mr. and Mrs. San Diego Homeowner to give you the hot lead on their $650000 property. Not saying it is impossible, but you should have a pretty dialed-in plan and approach to overcome the age barrier, which any homeowner will instantly recognize and throw up as your biggest hurdle. When you show up on their doorstep they are going to assume you are trying to sell high school candy bars, not acquire their home. Things to think about.

My guess is it will be pretty difficult to engage in either plan, but you'll need to confirm that with a lender and agent, and then ultimately your parents. From there, you can continue to learn, build your plan(s) of attack, fine tune what areas of RE you want to go deep in, and frankly start building a career and income that can support REI in SoCal, perhaps the most expensive place to buy alongside SFBA/NY. Brandon Turner's free weekly webinars are great, his books are awesome, the forums always have interesting ideas and methods, and I've found Youtube videos by folks like Chandler Smith to be engaging and learning opportunities. Also do heavy research on out of state (OOS) investing, which could be a better option to make your dollars go farther.

And continue to post and ask questions! Learning is the key, this is not a cheap business to be in.