Hey from an 18 year-old from SoCal!

[Radhika M.]

Hey everyone,

I'm an 18 year old looking to get started in real estate investing. I have a degenerative eye disease that means the career ladder won't really work out for me down the line. 

I've managed to save $10,000 to begin investing in real estate and am really happy I came across BiggerPockets -- I was completely lost just looking on sites like Forbes and Entrepreneur.

So, with my $10k, a car, and my efforts, I hope to be able to get $1.5k in pure profit a month within 2 months. Whether that's through renting, buying-and-selling, or maybe AirBnB, I don't know!

Eventually -- I hope to have property across the country (and world?). I'm an aspiring traveler, so I really hope that if I work really hard, I can fund my travel lifestyle through real estate.

So, I'm considering starting with foreclosed homes. Is that a smart idea? Are there any repercussions I need to know about? Any good advice?

Thanks for the no-sales, no-sleaze, no-bs nature of this community!

[David Friedman]

Hello @Radhika M.. Congratulations on starting so early in life. I begin learning and investing in real estate at the age of 18 as well. $10,000 is also a good start, but to really use that money to its fullest you will likely need to leverage and finance your first deal. $10,000 could be a down payment for a $200,000 house, but you most likely need another $5,000 for miscellaneous costs and escrow fees. You might want to save even more than that in case something on the property breaks. I suggest researching about FHA loans and if you are in Diamond Bar, you may want to start looking out in the Inland Empire for deals around $200,000. Unless you have cash your access to foreclosure properties will most likely be slim. Besides researching about FHA loans, start networking with family or friends and keep making new friends. Try to keep learning and show them your knowledge. One of the most powerful tools in real estate is called OPM or other people's money. Best of luck. You have a long and great path ahead of you.