All Forum Posts by: Colten Powell

@Jacob D Adamczak I will most definitely be doing that! Thank you for the information and connection!

I am new to real-estate investing and reside in Charleston, SC. I am looking for a duplex/townhome to try and "House-hack". I know that this comes with many advantages and it does make me feel more confident in purchasing. However, I am personally having a hard time finding many duplexes. I have been specifically looking in West Ashley area, and a little in James Island. I have not gone into deep research, but I have reached out to some agents and looked on all the cites I have access to, but am more so just asking. Are there great deals to still be made in the west Ashley for this type of property? I do not expect to live for free by any means, but at least have some money off the top of my own living expense. I do not plan to buy until September/October. 

@Jeffrey Masessa

Here’s my 2 cents and what I wish I would have done. I was in the same exact boat as you and you remind me of myself at your age. I am now 22 and will be finishing up my associates this coming May. If I would have done my 4 years right out of High School I would be getting my bachelors this coming May instead..

There is no reason you can’t do both. It’ll be hard but there’s no reason you can’t do it if you’re really motivated like you say you are. Do 2 years online at a tech school and work full-time ( which is what I did). I have been able to put up about $20k in the bank. I will be buying my first duplex in the next few months and doing the house hacking technique . Once I close, I will be going to school full time (not online) to finish my bachelors and working part time. Find a place where your numbers make sense and you aren’t paying a lot of $ yourself and have your renters do that for you.

That way you already got your foot in the door and can focus on school at the same time. I must say as I’ve gotten older not having that piece of paper is a big deal. It’s not easy to find a job without that paper, especially depending on where you live. No matter what people say on here. Go to a cheap tech school then transfer to a cheap state school, work part time and work your a** for scholarships. I’d suggest going for something like property management, finance, or even finance with emphasis in real estate.

@Jerry Lucker Do you think you could make serious dollars in only a year or less with only $20k?

@Damaso Bautista I very much value and appreciate your opinion Damaso. Your wording really hit home for me considering my dad passed when I was younger. I will continue to think on my options. Thanks for your input!

@Daniel Haberkost thanks for the advice Daniel. I am definitely not looking for an easy way out so it isn’t that. I am currently in school full-time (online) and working full-time, so hard work is nothing new to me. I also know that once I finish with my associates , the time I am spending studying and doing homework could then be spent doing side work or even analyzing deals.

@Jon Reed thanks Jon I really appreciate the advice. These are definitely questions I will be asking myself and writing out. Even now I tried writing out answers to questions you just asked and I couldn’t seem to get the right answer. Just continued to go back and delete them. Much to think about. Thanks again

I am 21 years old and currently taking online classes at a tech school to earn an associates in business/leadership. At the same time I am working full-time and I pay all the bills, while my fiancé uses her income towards savings. I will be finished with this degree in May and considering going to school in August to obtain a bachelors in finance. I wanted some different viewpoints/opinions on my dilemma. If I go to school in August I will not be able to work full time anymore and we would most likely dip into the savings and possibly school debt. In the long run I would be earning a higher salary, so I could potentially invest more, but I would also be starting over/later. If I do not go to school then I could potentially buy my first rental next year and be on track to owning a portfolio of rentals. The only problem is that my salary isn’t very high ($45k), so the process would be a slow one. Do I go to college, or do I start investing?