Single income family of 7, some debt but want to buy a rental

[Nehemiah Wallace]

Getting a good chunk of change back from IRS and I want to start investing by buying a property in the $80-$90k range ready to rent out but the wife thinks we should eliminate our debt first. Is it a good idea to get into real estate investing now or wait a few more years until we pay off debts? I was self employed for 2 years but started back in the workforce 7 months ago, which is the only reason I will get a lot of $ back from IRS. My only concern is that with a single income family and the slim chance I will have this kind of cash in hand again for a long time to start investing makes this a tough choice mainly because I want to get started sooner than later

[Joel Owens]

With that large of a family it will be hard to get ahead.

Average cost to raise a child to 18 is about at 250,000 plus per child.

5 kids that is 1,250,000 needed not counting for inflation numbers to grow larger before then. A rental throwing off 100 bucks a month cash flow if everything goes right isn't usually going to make anyone wealthy. You really need a business or a job that pays extremely well to give you excess cash to invest at a faster clip than inflation. Right now everything may be going okay but if someone has an illness, car issues, etc. it can wipe out any savings. It's why 90% of America has a hard time getting ahead.

If someone can make the first 1 million and get an overall 10 to 15% return year over year then they have generally cleared a major hurdle. The key is to live below your means. If you make 300k live like you make 50k. Problem is most people make 50k and need 50k just to survive on basics.

Maybe go work for an investment company and pour your heart and sould into it. Show the owner you are serious and want to do this badly. Maybe they help fund your first deal or let you own a small slice of their deal to get you started.

Even if you get a single rental making 100 dollars a month cash flow and appreciates say 15,000 in a few years it doesn't sound like that is going to make a big dent in life change for a family of seven.

Getting ahead in life is tough but if you have the drive and never give up it can happen to the people with the right mindset. One struggle will likely be saving money and not going out to eat often, not going on many vacations, etc. Other members of your family might put more weight and favor on creating lifelong family memories with experiences than saving up to be financially free many decades from now etc.

My commercial clients what allows them to accelerate investing is their job or business pays them a lot. Some make mid 6 figures to 7 figures a year income. Someone making 50k a year can only cut so much costs. At some point they have to get higher revenue streams (better job, business, etc.)  

Good luck.