Student in Milwaukee. Looking for advice.

[Jake Robers]

Hello Everyone,

My name is Jake and I'm a 21 year old currently going to school for software engineering in the Milwaukee area. I have one more year of school left, and I really want to get into real estate once I graduate. My parents, uncles, and grandparents are all in real estate, and I feel it makes sense to continue the family legacy :). My ultimate goal with real estate is to achieve financial independence before I am 30. I have had an internship with a decent salary for two years now, and I have been investing in stocks since I was 18. I have averaged about a 2% annual return, which is not great when comparing to average real estate returns. I plan on selling these and using the money for a down payment on my first investment property.

I was wondering if I could get some financial advice from you guys. When I graduate, I will have about 25k in student loans. This is the only debt I carry. Additionally, my parents very generous in allowing me to live expense free with them for a few years to get my real estate business started. I assume I will be making around 65k/yr as a software engineer after next year. Currently my stocks are worth about 30k.

My goal is to get involved with commercial real estate (8+ living units per complex).

Since I want to use this year to prepare as much as I can, I made myself a list to accomplish before graduation.

- Create a website (almost done -- perks of being a software engineer I suppose)

- Order business cards

- Create LLC

- Find tax attorny, accountant, etc.

- Memorize vocabulary (find a resonable sized list, make flash cards, and gradually add new ones each day)

- Find a mentor & network with investors in the Milwaukee area.

Thank You!

[Adam Kozuch]

Welcome @Jake Robers, fellow software engineer here in the area. Have you started analyzing properties? That is one thing that has helped me a ton. Just going on the MLS and crunching numbers for tons of properties. You get comfortable with what's being offered in what area, prices, amenities, and you get much quicker at it as time progresses.

Be sure to check out the podcasts they have as well. I find them to typically be more high level, but still great concepts to learn about.

Welcome to MKE BP.