So back in 2006 my mother got advice from a successful investor that even she can invest in RE with little money. For the first deal she refinanced our house and took that seed money to buy another SFH. Meanwhile I was fresh out of high school and still not sure what to study in college, so I ended up watching closely to what my mother studied/read/watched and did. In the first year we house hacked 3 Single family houses and rented them out after. Then, with a good amount of profit we started going to seminars, Fortune Builders, Jim Rohn, etc.. We got fascinated with flipping houses, our first flip was a duplex and I believe we fixed about 7 properties in one year! We quickly incorporated and had our own construction crew. Since the market was at it's peak in 2007 and rental rates were at a high, we decided to hold on to the fixed up properties and rent them out. And then the market crashed!!! With lowered prices we bought a couple more properties. Unfortunately, our cash flow seized as almost all the tenants stopped paying rent and refused to evict. in 2009, we let go of our employees and closed our business doors. I learned so many lessons from starting a business with my mother, but most importantly I saw that the American dream is a reality. I'm a true believer to this day.