Ambitious 17 Year Old Newbie From Philadelphia, PA!

[Ryan Dao]

Hey! My name is Ryan. This post is a long one so if you don't feel like reading through me talking about myself for 4-5 paragraphs, its probably not in your best interest to continue reading. However, if you are in the mood to read about me basically tell you my life story as well as my hopes and dreams, continue reading! 

I just made an account today, but I've been interested in investing in real estate for a while and I've seen this website here and there but I never knew that there was an elaborate forum and everything; I just thought that it filled with useful articles. I actually have no experience when it comes to selling real estate or buying property other than reading an endless amount of articles about it and living vicariously through the successes of others (as a teen, I should be in the majority in this one though). 

I'm from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, however I'm looking to go somewhere else for college - although I don't really have an idea where. But, for now, I'm going to staying in Philadelphia for a while. As you have probably deduced, I'm still a student in high school; I'm a senior, and I'm still trying to survive the tremendous pressure of being a high school student while actively learning about investing in real estate. 

Right now, however, I only have $800 to my name from working with my job, and as much as I want to rent out a $75,000 house, I doubt anyone would loan a random 17-year-old kid with no credit history more money than he ever made in his life. I'm taking baby steps right now, and I'm not looking to rush into real estate. So far, I'm not too certain about how I'm going to invest to real estate yet, whether it be wholesaling, flipping, house hacking etc, and suggestions would help a lot.

Currently, my intention for joining the vicious world of real estate is to be financially independent and not to need to rely on my parents to pay for everything I have. Not to go too much into detail, and to bore you - although if you are still reading my autobiography that I posted here, something about me must be interesting or you're already bored - I'm a first generation American, as my parents immigrated here when I was very young. My parents currently work 70-80 hours a week to make ends meet for me and they are reaching the age of retirement, and I would love for them to actually retire at a reasonable age rather than continue working. Anyhow, emotional backstory aside, I know that as I get more involved into my real estate investing career, my goals will change, but in the present, that is what I hope to seek out from real estate investing.

So what I'm hoping to achieve from these forums is an opportunity to shadow and hopefully do an unpaid internship with a real estate investor as to learn the ropes, in addition to getting familiarized with the process and the mindset of a real estate investor as they carry on with their everyday tasks. I do realize that many people don't want someone with not much experience interning for them but I can definitely bring my hustle and my ambition to the table, as you can or can't tell by me writing a forum post at 3 in the morning that is longer than Shakespeare's plays. I don't want to sound like I'm trying to advertise myself or anything, because that's not my intention, I was opening up about my hopes and dreams, as I mentioned earlier.

All in all, I am having very high expectations about this website. I already learned so much from reading previous forum posts as well as the articles that I stumbled upon. I'm hoping to further increase my knowledge about real estate and crossing my fingers!

Cordially, 

Ryan

[Chris K.]

Hi @Ryan Dao :

Not every day that we see a 17-year-old on BP. Very cool! 

Not sure what advice I have. I suppose I would say that while learning about real-estate is fine, you may want to broaden your horizons for now. I may start with reading books like "The One Thing," "Rich Dad, Poor Dad," "Millionaire Next Door," "Gettings Things Done," "Getting to Yes," and "E-Myth Revisited" at your spare time. Yes, some of those books deal with real estate. But many of them deal with bigger-picture items. You may find them more helpful than learning about the specifics.  

When you go to college, I would major in a field that gives you a tangible, marketable skill. Now this is coming from someone who basically majored in arts/music. That's totally fine. But If I could start again, I may have picked a major like Computer Science or Engineering. 

Have fun as well. See if you can find other entrepreneurial students and do some interesting projects that have nothing to do with grades. The law school I went to had a very interesting program where undergraduate/graduate students could work with other students to test out business ideas.

Disclaimer: While I’m an attorney licensed to practice in PA, I’m not your attorney. What I wrote above does not create an attorney/client relationship between us. I wrote the above for informational purposes. Do not rely on it as legal advice. Always consult with your attorney before you rely on the above information.