College Student Eager to Start Investing

[Devin Cronin]

Hey all, 

I am new to the Bigger Pockets community and am reaching out to ask, What should be my first steps to begin my real estate career? I have limited cash on hand, but am working very hard to save up for an initial investment. I do not graduate until May of 2024 and will not have a consistent source of income to fund my dreams off the bat. Any advice for how to start/interesting ways to save up to finance an investment. 

Thank you!

[Alfath Ahmed]

Quote from @Devin Cronin:

Hey all, 

I am new to the Bigger Pockets community and am reaching out to ask, What should be my first steps to begin my real estate career? I have limited cash on hand, but am working very hard to save up for an initial investment. I do not graduate until May of 2024 and will not have a consistent source of income to fund my dreams off the bat. Any advice for how to start/interesting ways to save up to finance an investment. 

Thank you!

 Hi Devin, 

I bought my first property when I was a junior in engineering college at The Ohio State University. I went about it by house-hacking with a 5% down conventional loan with no PMI. Currently, the rates have been crazy but the FHA loans have been around~5.8 % interest rate in today's market with the lenders that I am working with.

I personally had a good amount of cash reserves from years of saving from high-school and always having an entrepreneurial mindset and of course having a great credit score really helped! I used my W2 and the money in the bank to qualify for the loan. If you are in-need of cash, you could always borrow money from a parent or close family member (depending on their finances). Have them give you the money to invest as an "IOU" personal loan with maybe a 6-8% return on their investment. 

You can continue working a w2 or re-finance out of the property in 2-3 years and pay them back to clear the loan. 

Good Luck!