Starting full time, various questions

[John Hein]

First some quick background information. Currently, I am finishing my 3rd year of chemical engineering. I have one year left but only 2 classes. I am very interested in making real estate investing my full time career. My girlfriend is also a chemical engineer and graduating this may. She has a very good job lined up in Belpre Ohio/Parkersburg wv. We are both moving there June 1st. Obviously not a very hot area for investing, but is about 1.5 hours from Columbus Ohio. We both plan on working on real estate investing together. I can put in 80+ hrs per week, probably only 20-30 for her.

So anyway let’s start with some questions. #1 should we buy or rent a house? We don’t plan to stay very long. Maybe 1-5 years. We both hate the idea of throwing money away renting, but also don’t want to lose money in a market where I assume that it is hard to sell. We plan on living as cheaply as possible. From this we should be able to save ~40k per year after taxes and expenses. 

#2 where should I/we start. I have been listening to many podcasts, trying to get an overview. I have learned a decent amount but understand that I have a LONG way to go. Wholesaling seems like a decent option. I would like to find investors to work with. I can offer tons of energy and labor among other things. Ideally this would allow me to further understand the industry and become a partner on a few deals, also building my network. I am also willing to work to raise funds for an approved SEC investor. 

So basically my question can be summed up into, what can I do RIGHT NOW. I could read all day but I really think experience is much more important. Action is key. What action can I take right now to start my career.

Thank you very much.

[Brad Clarizio]

Hi John,

I think you first need to identify what kind of real estate investing you want to do- that term is so broad/general. Do you want to flip? Rentals? Assign contracts? Wholetail? Etc. Do you plan to get your RE license? Start with that. It'll be tough to find a mentor until you know exactly what you want to do. 

Second suggestion: make a sacrifice on commute. I'm not familiar with Belpre, but if you're 1.5 hours away and near WV, I imagine you're southeast. So, find an area that's halfway between Columbus and Belpre and get a duplex or 4-plex there. If you buy, don't waste your FHA financing opportunity on a SFH. So if you don't want to get a duplex, just rent.

I flip houses in Columbus and own a portfolio of rentals that I operate/manage myself, so feel free to reach out whenever. I have a pretty gnarly rehab going on in downtown Columbus right now that you're welcome to stop by and help. If you want to come over this weekend, I've got about 8,000 lbs of trash I'll be loading into a dumpster. We could spend 8 hours talking about RE while picking up old windows and wood trim. ;)