advice for a 19 year old

[Kevin Andre]

Hey there BiggerPockets investors! This will be a lengthy post but I would like some insight on my current situation, thank you in advance.

I’m currently 19 years old and I reside in Phoenix, AZ. I’m a full time college student attending ASU as well as a part-time fast food worker (20-25 hours a week). My family does not come from money nor I depend completely from my parents, in fact, my parents make less than 50k a year combined, with 4 kids. We get through, but hardly. Being the only kid who is in college, I have a lot of pressure on me.

It’s in my blood to be an entrepreneur, ever since 4th grade I started selling chocolates in school, and escalated to selling junk food, like chips and soda, all throughout middle school and high school, while also working part time. I invested roughly 1k that I saved up my senior year of high school into a dropshipping business, which only generated me around 200$ in sales. I decided to opt out and call it a learning experience from there, but that’s besides the point.

I currently pay 650-680 in student apartments and have $150 saved up, which is nothing, but I hate the fact that the money I am using on rent is not being put into an asset. I have been researching real estate extensively these past few months and really do believe I can achieve financial independence by age 30, however, I would like to learn from you and how you started, and maybe give me ideas on how to get my feet wet.

This upcoming school year, I plan to live with my girlfriend, which will allow me to save $500 a month for about a whole year, and about 1k a month during summer. I’m assuming I will have roughly 10k before my 3rd year in college begins.

What are your thoughts? What can I do with 10k?

[Bryce Deeney]

If I were you, I would hyper focus on raising your income and savings over the next few years. Don't feel rushed into buying property. Learn to increase your income to 50k+ in the next three years, while living as cheaply as possible. You can do this a lot of different ways. When I was your age (I'm 32 now), I sold alarm systems / smart home automation systems door to door in Phoenix. Ended up making an extra $500-$1,500 per Saturday. Saved 100% of the money. Bought my first house at 23, flipped it when I was 27 for $60k profit, rolled it into a 500k property, which I'm about to sell for 1M 5 years later. Without the income and savings, you are pigeonholing yourself.