New Investor looking for Guidance

[Jack Rhode]

Hello everyone! I am new to the bigger pockets community and got involved by stumbling across the podcast about 3 months ago. From there I investigated the YouTube channel and then eventually came here! Long story short I am new to the community but I hear a lot of things along the lines “Just do it” and how I will make a mistake but in order to know how to correct it I must first take the first step. So my first question is at what point do I stop just trying to absorb information and actually start to take action? I ask this because I am 21 years old, and 3 months ago I didn’t know the first thing about real estate investing but I also feel this sense of urgency to just jump right in.

My next question is how you would approach my situation… As I said im 21, Currently live at home(rent free) and work fulltime as a bartender. I have accumulated just over $125,000 in a savings account over the last 5 years from various jobs and side hustles. The 2 options I am currently debating would be taking it slow and buying smaller properties such as single family homes or a duplex, with a FHA loan and living in one unit and renting the other. Then basically just repeat that putting very little down and cash flowing the property after I move out. My second option I have been looking into would be diving straight into a large 6-8 unit apartment building, doing the same but using up my "bank" in one large deal instead of getting multiple smaller duplex like properties. If Anyone could shed some light into the possible pros and cons of each it would be much appreciated.

As I said it's very early in my investing career and am just trying to get some ideas from like minded individuals. Thank you to all who respond in advance and I'm looking forward to learning from this community!

[Scott Trench]

Welcome, @Jack Rhode! You are absolutely crushing it to have accumulated so much with no debt as a bartender. Wow. Congratulations. 

The service worker route can be both a blessing and a curse for aspiring real estate investors. Here's a recent podcast we did talking about this topic as it relates to the pursuit of financial freedom. Perhaps you will find that useful to some degree, although you are well beyond the basics and obviously able to stack up a ton of cash. 

To answer your specific questions, I think it's a toss up in your situation. Personally, I biased towards starting small with the house-hack and/or small multifamily. I'm a big "get 1% bigger/better every week" kind of guy, and that has worked well for me, and managed my risk in a way that I am happy with at this point (now 32 years old). 

But, the home run shot, or going bigger in a single deal is also valid. I do think that this year we are going to see a substantial drop in asset values, so if that rings true, spending the next 6 months setting things up and then going "all-in" when the market is low could be worthwhile. You hit that right at 21/22 years old, and you could be in a great position for the rest of your life!