How Much Debt Paydown Before I Invest ?
Hello all! I just joined the forum and posted my introduction! I'll keep my back story short since I posted it in my profile and on my introduction. Anyways, I have been very interested in real estate investing and personal finance for over 5 years. I just recently graduated college (24 years old) and have a steady income so I am focusing on real estate investing more seriously. The reason for this post is I want to run some of my financials by you great people of the forums to see what different opinions I get on what I should do over the next year or so. More specifically, if I should be buying a multifamily within the next year and a half which is my goal.
Okay, so I stayed in school for 5.5 years to get two Bachelors degrees. Coming from a humble background, my parents did not save any money up for college. I graduated with 70k in school loan debt. Now for the good news- I have a good paying secure job. Over the last six months I have paid down small credit card debt, put away $5,000 as an emergency fund, and contribute 15% to my 401K which I am not willing to lower to pay down debt or save more towards my first property- that stays the same. Most of my planning has come from Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover, but I don't agree with all of his plan (which is why I am here). He would obviously tell me to pay every dime of debt off and not get into real estate. My school loan payments kicked in last month. Half of my student loan debt is around 4% interest and the other half is around 8%. My current plan is to put an extra $700 a month towards the smallest high interest school loan (kind of like a snowball method). I also plan to save $1,000 a month into my savings as a down payment on a multifamily. The reason I can do this is because I have no family and since I travel for work I get per diem and paid housing on top of my salary. So I have 0 bills except for my school loans, food, clothes, fun, etc. It is not something I think I want to do the rest of my life (constant travel) so that is why I want to be smart and pay down some debt, but also save to invest in real estate. I have always wanted to do it. My main dilemma is once I buy a property I am not be able to make extra payments on my school loans. So if I bought a property in a year or so I would still probably have around $58k or so in school loan debt and may only be able to do the minimum payment. I am on a 10 year repayment though so it isn't too long.
I would be looking to buy in the Pittsburgh market which isn't terribly high to get into. I look more higher quality neighborhoods so I may need 10k-20k down payment. I still need to do a lot of research so it isn't for certain. I plan on renting out one side, and living in the other just so I only have to put 10% down. I also plan to have a roommate in my side to "House Hack" as they use on the Bigger Pockets podcast all the time. I am only home for one weekend a month so I do not think having a roommate will bother me.
As far as my job, I plan on staying at least a few years, but it is one of those jobs that tomorrow is not guaranteed because you are responsible for so much. For example, if an injury occurred on my site and the clients believed I was negligent I could be let go. I work hard so I do not think that will happen, but I try to prepare for bad times. I am confident I could find a job pretty quick however not as great of a setup with paid housing and everything that enables me to attack debt and save money. Sorry for the lengthy post, but I finally have an outlet to share ideas with like minded people and want to see what you would do!