College Student Looking to Start in Real Estate

[Rylie Hendren]

Hello everyone! My name is Rylie and I am looking to buy a property short-term instead of renting while I am in enrolled at Michigan State University for the next 3 to 4 years completing a BS in computer science and an MS in finance. I am on scholarship; however, I am able to use the Room & Board stipend off-campus as well.

The stipend is currently $9734 per year, but equals the cost of Room & Board at MSU as it increases each year. I am a 'freshman' with junior-entry credits. I will be living on-camus this year (Sep 2017 - May 2018) and I am hoping to have a place by the end of August 2018.

Is it worth buying a place and then selling within a few years? Or should I hold onto it after I leave the area? Is an FHA loan the best way to go? I have been searching for a house or duplex to live in while renting out the other bedrooms. If I want to pay no more than $5-10k in closing costs, what price point should I be looking at? How much rent should I expect for a property of that price minus a bedroom?

How much should I budget for selling costs? Is this practical and profitable in the East Lansing market? Any reccomendations for resources in the area (ex. FHA friendly providers, maitenance, property management, etc...)? Is taking on your first investment/live-in property too much to take on while in college? I must stay above a 3.2 GPA to keep receiving my full ride.

I hope to one day build a buy-and-hold portfolio with automated systems to allow me to be hands-free from it all - maybe not entirely hands-free, but pretty darn close. I currently work in student housing research. What kind of research is the most valuable to you?

ANY advice, networking or insight you have would be greatly appreciated. Thank you :)

[JD Martin]

In general, it is definitely worthwhile buying a place while you are going to school, fixing it up while there, and then holding it as a rental property when you leave. I am in a college town and I know several individuals who bought properties for their children to live in while going to school and then flipped them 4 years later for a nice profit. If you are doing rehab work as you live there (aka "house hacking"), then you are going to be even further ahead of the game. Get the dumpiest place in the nicest neighborhood for the cheapest price and go from there :)

PS: You sound pretty sharp, since you have a scholarship and you're thinking about this stuff. I don't know about you, but I went all the way through a doctorate degree and college kids have a lot more free time for doing stuff other than school than they would readily admit. Keep the partying to a minimum and you'll have buku time for rehabbing the house. Or throw rehab parties :)