New and getting started with very little money

[Chris Lounsbury]

Hey everyone, just wanted to introduce myself to the BP world with a quick about me and what my plans are.  I was born and raised in Orange County, NY, but am planning on making the move to Southern California in the summer.  (I know that isn't the ideal place to be for investing right now, but I am definitely a dreamer and California has been a dream of mine since the first time I ever visited.)  I recently graduated college, but during my time there it became increasingly clear that I was uninterested in following the beaten path of entering into corporate America and working for the next 40 years.  After gaining experience in multiple endeavors, I realized that my passion had been staring me in the face my entire life.  Since I was about 12 years old, my parents and I slowly tore down and rebuilt our colonial home into a very beautiful new colonial style home.  We did most of the tear down and rebuild ourselves, and I learned a lot about designing and building.  Thinking back on this, I began to look into real estate investing with the idea of getting into house flipping, but after exploring the different niches, I think I'm even more interested in owning rental properties.

My main problem is my desire to get started investing now, but not having the funds to do so.  Currently I am a server/bartender at a restaurant and bring home around 2000 a month.  I actually dont mind working in this field for now, mingling with customers and putting smiles on peoples faces each day, but the money definitely isn't great. I know that I could apply to jobs that would pay me greater and make it easier to begin investing, but at the same time I have told myself countless times that getting a "real job" may slow down my true dreams, and I cant imagine finding a salary job that I would enjoy doing.  I don't want it to distract from my motivation to make money in a different way than the majority of people that have told me to take the "safe route" and find a nice paying job. 

With that being said, I am at a loss of what to do next. I am humbly seeking any advice or encouragement from everyone on this site. I would greatly appreciate any comments on this thread and hope to connect with some like-minded people that are willing to share anything they believe will help my journey into the real estate investment market. Thanks to all who took the time to even read this far, and good luck to everyone on this site in their own endeavors in REI.

[Brandon Hall]

@Chris Lounsbury I feel you man. I was in the same boat, but I like to mitigate risks and keep a laser focus on my end goals.

You need to really analyze the risks and make an informed decision. What happens if your venture fails? What happens when you run out of money? Your reputation will take a hit and you may not be able to recover. 

Being young and having a small amount of money to work with, you need to make calculated, strategic decisions. A salaried job will provide you with a stream of monthly income and open up a lot of doors for you, trust me. And as I already mentioned, you can reap benefits like health and retirement. 

To address your concerns: #1 - why don't you target jobs in the real estate industry? In this way, you will be in the industry you think you will enjoy and you will be gaining relevant experience. #2 - You are right, it is easy to fall into the "employee forever" trap, but it's also easy to avoid it. I literally typed up my 1 year, 5 year, 10 year, and lifetime goals, framed them, and hung them next to my bedroom door. I see them every morning and night and I stay focused on the end game. Even though I work for a large accounting firm right now, ALL of my goals are entrepreneur based as that is the ultimate path I want to take. Additionally, you can "moonlight" which means you work on your start-up after your 9-5, which is what I do. It mitigates risks and helps me test my market in a safe, stable manner. Stay laser focused, build funds to apply to your start up, and you will be fine.

On the other hand, if you do a bit of job searching and it's just not for you, then you need to figure out what your competitive advantage is that you can bring to the real estate game, and build a business around that. What value will you add to a potential client? What do you bring to the table? How can you get in the game and learn quickly? How are you going to garnish trust and quickly build a positive personal brand so that potential clients/investors overlook the fact that you are young?

For me it was my finance and accounting skills. I earned my CPA and now I am building a business primarily servicing real estate investors. I am starting out on the tax planning side and have aggressive plans to move into consulting and valuation services as that's what I really want to do. But I bring to the table services that every investor is in need of. My CPA builds my personal brand and garnishes trust. That's my core competency and that's what I am building my business around. Additionally, every client I have utilizes a different real estate strategy. Assuming I provide excellent services and my clients stick around for a while, I get to see how different real estate strategies play out and which ones end up being the most successful. That information and education is priceless.

A salaried job will help you with your real estate game. It will give you time to learn about different REI areas you can enter, it will allow you to build up savings, and you will have experience to fall back on should your venture fail. If this isn't the path for you, figure out where you can add value and leverage your core competencies, then get in the game and learn fast.

Keep me updated on your decision. I've put too much time into these posts to not know which option you chose!