Advice on education and goals for an aspiring 17 year old.

[Hunter Crespin]

Hello BP community! I'm an aspiring 17 year old real estate investor, I believe I have found this to be my passion. I have obsessed over learning all I can about REI! I have listened to nearly 50 hours worth of BP podcasts and have begin reading two books from BP. From these sources I have a strong idea of what I need to do, and a decent idea of how to do it. Specifically, I want to buy and hold (BRRRR) and run a few flips on the side. I wanted to ask this community on any advice for my specific situation (Which I believe to be a very fortunate position) and help on setting high yet realistic goals.

As of now I am a senior in high school with good grades and have a good shot at a full ride scholarship at my state college. I have a good truck that is fully paid off and a decent place where I can live for free for the next five years or so. I will have a secure job at my family owned business, that does flooring and house remodeling, making about $25,000 to $35,000 a year part time. I believe this to be my biggest advantage because I can learn great amounts about house repairs and remodel, as well as use the business in my own projects at a discount in the future. We are great friends with a contractor that can build and inspect houses. I have an aunt that is a real estate agent and another that is a lender.

With all that said, I am an extremely dedicated person. Hopefully by next year I can start, however I will only have around $10,000 dollars saved up. At that point I will start college and work part time at the family business. With no bills to pay, I am willing to pour every coin I have into my investing adventure (Including my eventual cash flow). I am willing to do all it takes to be successful. My goal would to have around $3,000 cash flow per month by the end of the second year, and around $12,000 per month by the end of the fifth year.

So here are my questions!

• What should I do now as a 17 year old to increase my chances of success? (Besides reading/research)
• Will my income from my job in my family business be enough to eventually become a full time investor, assuming I Invest around 90% of it for my first 5 years?
• What should I major in college to help me in investing? Should I use that major to get a specific job?
• Should I become a real estate agent at 18? Is 18 too young to become a landlord?
• How realistic are the two goals I have set up so far?
• What's the best way to have your cash flow “Snowball”?

Any other advice is greatly appreciated!

Thanks BP community!

[Nick G.]

Hey @Hunter Crespin, good for you. A couple brief thoughts/answers for you as a 23 year old -

• What should I do now as a 17 year old to increase my chances of success? (Besides reading/research)

Right now you should be keeping any debt you have as low as possible and keep it that way. That includes college debt, though I'm a dropout so what do I know. Lol!

• Will my income from my job in my family business be enough to eventually become a full time investor, assuming I Invest around 90% of it for my first 5 years?

Oh yeah, totally. Most Americans who make 50-80k/year have no savings, so you're golden. Your biggest challenge will be standard financing, but that's where creative financing comes in.

• Should I become a real estate agent at 18? Is 18 too young to become a landlord?

First part is up to you. I did it, and it worked for me, but it's a very different animal than investing with a whole different skill set and knowledge base. Most people don't go that route. Second part is a giant no, what kind of question is that!? ;)

• How realistic are the two goals I have set up so far?

Wrong question, and the answer doesn't matter, so don't ever ask it again. All you need to worry about is how focused you are, the rest will take care of itself. If you haven't already, write down your goals and keep them at your bedside. Read them every morning and every night.

• What's the best way to have your cash flow “Snowball”?

Macro answer: invest in U.S. real estate with U.S. loans. Micro answer: Learn from your mistakes fast and don't lose more money than necessary. But seriously though, there is no best way, that's the beauty of real estate.

Bottom line:

Write down your goals. Read them constantly and don't ever stop.

Keep your debt low, keep your focus honed, and keep your goals ambitious.

And lastly, again, don't ever, ever ask if your goals are realistic. Anyone who ever did something particularly great usually had goals that sounded ridiculous at the start. So get that question out of your head permanently. Instead, ask yourself how you will attain them. Then answer the question yourself with a written plan, and from that point forward, only ask questions to others that will help you attain your goals - not a judgement on them. As you learn more and connect with more people, you - the master of your plan - will render an opinion and adjust your goals accordingly in order to make them be achieved faster. But that's your job, nobody else's.

I dropped out of college after a year never went back. I started a business completely broke as an agent in real estate around my 19th birthday. It's a difficult business for a myriad of reasons, but somehow I pulled through and bought my first property for $425,000 when I was 22. Now, I have a fiance and two stepkids, and I have my sights set on properties 2 and 3 in the next year or so. Admittedly, there are much easier roads then the one I took - but it doesn't matter as long as you keep your focus.

Good luck!