All Forum Posts by: Thomas O'Donnell

I currently have no properties but I am planning on getting my first before summer 2023. I have spent the last 8 months or so educating myself on RE investing and I am dedicated to using it to reach financial freedom. Recently I have moved home to lower my cost of living and gone back to school to finish my degree in hopes of making more income. For now I am doing my best to raise capital, lower my DTI ratio and raise my credit. Would also love to connect with those of you who have experience! My long term goal is to own many multifamily properties, but my short term goal is to house-hack my first duplex/triplex with an FHA loan. The only issue is that I live in Santa Clara, CA where these properties are over $1.5mil. I have started to look at investing long distance and/or moving to another state (as I already want to get out of California) and house hacking there.

Good afternoon my fellow BiggerPockets members!

I am looking to connect with an experienced investor who might be interested in helping me begin my investing journey. I am a bit knowledgeable on real estate investing for a beginner, as I have spent about the past 8 months reading books, watching many podcasts and zoning in on exactly what it is that I want to do. I believe that having some guidance along my journey will be crucial. Of course, I do not expect to receive any value before giving value wherever I can.

I am 23 years old and currently living in Santa Clara, CA. In order to pursue my dream of achieving financial freedom through real estate, I have decided to move back in with my parents (lower my living expenses) and go back to school to finish my degree so that I can increase my income and the amount of capital I have to invest. My long term goal is to own several multifamily properties. My initial plan to get started was to house-hack a duplex/triplex with an FHA loan, but because I live in the bay area where these properties are over $1M, I have began to look into other states for possible long-distance investing and/or moving out of California (only thing that sucks is you can't beat California wages). For now, I am focused on working as much as I can, getting my degree, and putting away most of my money. I am hoping to buy my first property before 2023 or at least by summer 2023. I am open to all and any help that I receive and I really look forward to connecting with you guys. I would love to tell you more about myself as well as learn a bit about you, so please feel free to reach out to me! I refuse to give up my dream of obtaining financial freedom through real estate, so that I can spend my time helping others do the same and reach their potential.

Thank you so much to all! You are very helpful and I appreciate it! I 100% WOULD house-hack where I am if prices weren't over $1million dollars everywhere. I will never be able to house-hack where I am because it is insanely expensive. I have made a plan to spend most of this year analyzing markets as I save up capital. I then plan to move to the market I want to invest in and begin my first house-hack there. If anyone else has some other ideas, please feel free to share them as others will see this post and receive help from it as well!

@Scott Mac Thank you so much! I will definitely reach out to some lenders and ask questions and figure out the requirements. Yeah one thing I was worried about was them running my credit but I do know my credit score thankfully so I will tell them. You have been very helpful and I appreciate this!! Definitely using this for reference

@Scott Mac Thank you for your response! It definitely does look like I will need to find more ways to raise capital, such as a 2nd job or building relationships with those who already have the capital. Unfortunately, because of where I live, getting an FHA loan and house-hacking is not an option because these properties are all well over $1mil (South Bay Area). Also, I am currently between jobs as I just recently moved back to my parents. Because of this, I am unsure whether meeting with a lender at this time is the best step for me, seeing that I technically do not have a strong track record with a current employer.

 Thank you so much! Yes it would definitely be great to build a team and begin buying with OPM, that is most likely what I will be doing. I will be sure to join groups on facebook and start to connect with others who may be in the same boat as me, or are willing to help with some guidance.

In addition to this, is there any strategies I could be pursuing to build capital faster? 

Hello everyone! I am currently seeking some guidance from those of you who are more experienced than I am. I currently do not own any properties, but have spent months and months educating myself on real estate investing through BiggerPockets books, podcasts and other sources of information. I truly want to obtain financial freedom through real estate and I am dedicated to this as a life goal. I want to purchase my first multi-family property in 2022, but my main issue right now is on the financing part. I have the hustle and I have the knowledge (at least a good foundation), but I'm not sure where to start. My original plan was to house hack my first property, but seeing that I live in Santa Clara, CA where it is extremely expensive to buy, this will not be an option. I have instead turned to looking out-of-state for a property 4 units or less. I currently have only $5,000 in cash which I know isn't much, but I am looking for any input on creative financing options or how I can do this with low-to-no money down. The only thing holding me back right now is the money part, and I REALLY want to take action this year. Thank you for any responses to this post, it is greatly appreciated!

Hey Craig! I am in the exact same boat. You are not alone here! Feel free to message me if you want to talk or pick each other's brains!

What's up BiggerPockets community! New Pro member here! I have spent the last 6 months on educating myself about real estate investing, with an emphasis on multifamily rental properties. I currently live in Santa Clara, CA where it is way too expensive for me to carry out my original plan of house-hacking with an FHA loan. I am now looking instead to purchase a multifamily property out of state in a market where I can balance cash flow with appreciation. I have recently been looking at Texas, Florida, Georgia and Arizona as options. My goal for 2022 is to buy my first out-of-state multifamily property 4 units or less, with a mostly cosmetic rehab. I am hoping to get some experienced input from anyone who is invested in these areas or knows a lot about them. I am a 23 year old who has the education, drive and motivation to make this life-changing first step in wealth building. Any help is greatly appreciated! Thank you!