Starting Out Investing While Finishing College

Starting Out
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Starting Out Investing While Finishing College

Cole Bossert
Real Estate Broker · Boone, NC · Member since 2024 · 82 posts · 55 votes

Hey Y'all!

This is my first post here in the BiggerPockets forums. I have been listening to the podcasts and reading some of the books and am excited to finally feel comfortable enough in my vision to post here. 

For a quick backstory, I'm a senior in college, graduating in December. I will be graduating with a degree in Digital Marketing and have been applying to jobs for a while with not much luck. I had a friend suggest the Real Estate Rookie podcast to me and I really found interest in the opportunities investing in real estate could have for me. I began to share ideas with 2 of my closest friends about we could become partners and start together. They have degrees and interests in different segments of what I think are important facets of the real estate game, one will be graduating with a degree in construction management and the other in accounting. All 3 of us are very passionate now about getting started when we make it out of college. I will be the first to graduate with them following in May. We also have an alumni friend who is a few years older than us who is actively investing in real estate in our market. He is really open to giving advice and would even help with inspecting properties we find. 

We are currently thinking about and researching student housing opportunities. As we first hand see the demand for student housing with a low supply of affordable options in the area. We have some savings put together, around $15k, and are really looking to get started as soon as we can. 

A few questions:

Have any of you been in a similar situation where multiple partners were involved? What are some common issues you faced, and how did you resolve them?

For those of you who’ve invested in student housing, what are some things you wish you had known before diving in? Any tips on managing properties rented by students?

We’re primarily focused on long-term buy-and-hold properties, but we don’t want to miss opportunities to flip for a quick profit. How do you balance these strategies, and what signals do you look for in deciding to hold or flip a property?

If you were in my shoes, what would you prioritize at this stage of the journey?

Thanks in advance for any insights! We’re eager to learn from those who’ve been down this road already.

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Julia Lyrberg
Lender · TX · Member since 2024 · 308 posts · 197 votes
1y

Hi Cole, welcome to BiggerPockets! You and your friends have a great mix of skills and having a mentor is a huge advantage. For partnerships, make sure to have clear roles and a written agreement to avoid issues.

With student housing, focus on durable renovations and solid lease agreements to handle turnover. For holding vs. flipping, let your goals and market conditions guide you—flipping can build quick capital, but holding offers long-term gains. Right now, focus on learning, networking, and landing your first deal. You’re off to a great start—good luck!

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  • Jonathan GreeneBusiness Member
    Real Estate Consultant · Madison, NJ · Member since 2016 · 6k+ posts · 7k+ votes
    1y

    You actually have a pretty solid setup with your diverse degrees plus the one alumni so there's something there. With that said, you have a lot to learn before you need to form a partnership and start the wheels on that. You all need to go get regular jobs. Do not think you can just start an investment company with 15k (that is reserves only on one property).

    Work for the next couple of years while you all learn and use your skills to help build the foundation of a future company and leverage your relationship with the alumni to see some of his properties and learn. And go to meetups, as many as you can for real estate investors. 

    Student housing can be done very well by those who just left it. A cooperative house hack between you all would be a solid first one, but you need more savings.

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  • Melissa JusticeBusiness Member
    Rental Property Investor · Phoenix, AZ · Member since 2024 · 519 posts · 1k+ votes
    1y

    Hey @Cole Bossert! Welcome to the BP community!

    I wanted to share some advice and answer the questions you posted from my own experience being in RE in different capacities for over 12 years:

    Have any of you been in a similar situation where multiple partners were involved? What are some common issues you faced, and how did you resolve them?   - I have one of my LLCs with a family member that is a 50/50 partner. Issues we faced were conflicting opinions on the next home we should purchase for our portfolio and what upgrades to do when we were doing a flip, the cost of labor and materials, etc. We resolved them by constantly reminding each other about the bigger picture (the profit we can make and how we can scale) and having full transparency. That really is the only way to have an efficient professional partnership - total open communication whether the conversation is pleasant or sour. 

    For those of you who’ve invested in student housing, what are some things you wish you had known before diving in? Any tips on managing properties rented by students? - I would have regular check-ins to make sure the property is being cared for and not destroyed. If the students do not have the income or credit to warrant the rent amount, I would require that they get a cosigner (like a parent or another relative that can vouch for them). Students tend to take better care of the home when they know their relative is on the hook for damage, etc.

    We’re primarily focused on long-term buy-and-hold properties, but we don’t want to miss opportunities to flip for a quick profit. How do you balance these strategies, and what signals do you look for in deciding to hold or flip a property? It really depends on the markets you are looking in, if you have the bandwidth to handle general contractors and their subs, and the amount of capital/liquid you have. I think buy and hold is a better long-term strategy in terms of scaling and definitely comes with much more tax savings incentives to offset your regular income.

    If you were in my shoes, what would you prioritize at this stage of the journey? - Definitely long term buy and hold of TURNKEY rental investment properties.


    Wishing you much success,

    Melissa Johnsen

    [email protected]313-221-8718
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  • Wale LawalBusiness Member
    Real Estate Broker · Houston | Dallas | Austin, TX · Member since 2018 · 5k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    1y

    @Cole Bossert

    Welcome to BP!

    Partnerships can be beneficial, but they can also present challenges if not structured correctly. To avoid these, create an operating agreement outlining roles, responsibilities, financial contributions, and handling disagreements. Student housing tips include clear lease terms, property durability, turnover, communication, market trends, and financial stability.

    Good luck!

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  • Julia Lyrberg
    Lender · TX · Member since 2024 · 308 posts · 197 votes
    1y

    Hi Cole, welcome to BiggerPockets! You and your friends have a great mix of skills and having a mentor is a huge advantage. For partnerships, make sure to have clear roles and a written agreement to avoid issues.

    With student housing, focus on durable renovations and solid lease agreements to handle turnover. For holding vs. flipping, let your goals and market conditions guide you—flipping can build quick capital, but holding offers long-term gains. Right now, focus on learning, networking, and landing your first deal. You’re off to a great start—good luck!

    1Reply
  • Rene HosmanPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Denver, CO · Member since 2024 · 583 posts · 655 votes
    1y
    Quote from @Cole Bossert:

    Hey Y'all!

    This is my first post here in the BiggerPockets forums. I have been listening to the podcasts and reading some of the books and am excited to finally feel comfortable enough in my vision to post here. 

    For a quick backstory, I'm a senior in college, graduating in December. I will be graduating with a degree in Digital Marketing and have been applying to jobs for a while with not much luck. I had a friend suggest the Real Estate Rookie podcast to me and I really found interest in the opportunities investing in real estate could have for me. I began to share ideas with 2 of my closest friends about we could become partners and start together. They have degrees and interests in different segments of what I think are important facets of the real estate game, one will be graduating with a degree in construction management and the other in accounting. All 3 of us are very passionate now about getting started when we make it out of college. I will be the first to graduate with them following in May. We also have an alumni friend who is a few years older than us who is actively investing in real estate in our market. He is really open to giving advice and would even help with inspecting properties we find. 

    We are currently thinking about and researching student housing opportunities. As we first hand see the demand for student housing with a low supply of affordable options in the area. We have some savings put together, around $15k, and are really looking to get started as soon as we can. 

    A few questions:

    Have any of you been in a similar situation where multiple partners were involved? What are some common issues you faced, and how did you resolve them?

    For those of you who’ve invested in student housing, what are some things you wish you had known before diving in? Any tips on managing properties rented by students?

    We’re primarily focused on long-term buy-and-hold properties, but we don’t want to miss opportunities to flip for a quick profit. How do you balance these strategies, and what signals do you look for in deciding to hold or flip a property?

    If you were in my shoes, what would you prioritize at this stage of the journey?

    Thanks in advance for any insights! We’re eager to learn from those who’ve been down this road already.


     Hey Cole! I'm curious if you decided what you're going to do and if you and your friends have made any choices if you're going to invest together? Would love to hear an update if you have one!

    BiggerPockets
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  • Tim Ryan
    Investor / Mentor / Contractor · Arcadia, CA Buying Out of State · Member since 2015 · 655 posts · 622 votes
    1y

    Your Alumni friend who is already doing real estate deals - will be your best partner. Make sure you get him/her on your team.

    I believe in multiple partners on a business like this since (except for the alumni friend who actually might not have that much experience), y'all have no experience. So bound together and work as a team and take a smaller percentage if you make money.

    I see so many would-be investors going it alone and never get anywhere. 

    Get a good attorney to draw up your LLC and spell out what everyone does and how you can push any of you out when they underperform. You can stay friends, but business is business.

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