What would you do if you were 18?
Real Estate Investor · Riverside, CA · Member since 2015 · 20 posts · 0 votes
Date ugly women with good bookkeeping skills :)
@Account Closed that's exactly why I'm looking at insurance to start a family friend owns a Farmers branch he has a couple people that are in there 3rd year making 6 figures so I know I could use a lot of that income to be directly applied to real estate, my debt to income ratio will also be helped by this. Insurance I've also found to be very important to real estate, with this job I will be able to get inside information and a very deep understanding of the different types of insurance that I can use on properties. What would you think about networking with Realtors while having the insurance job and seeing if they would recommend me for homeowners insurance when they make a sale? I could learn from them as Realtors and help my day job.
I think you're brilliant! You could go to your local business mixers. There's nothing wrong with networking. I see fine things in your future!
As far as not getting a degree - my daughter never finished college and she makes 6 figures as a payroll systems analyst. She started out doing data entry, learned as much as she could, got certified at the lower level, then got certified at the higher level, relocated to get a manager's position supervising others, implemented new payroll systems for her employers, and 13 years later, she's an expert in her field.
It's true some companies wouldn't hire her that require degrees - like Google, for instance. But, that hasn't kept her from achieving expert status. She has purchased two properties on her own, and was able to do so, in part, because she has no student loan debt.
I think you're going to do just fine. Degrees make you worth more if you work for someone else most of the time. But not always. Good luck to you.
Education is important, but where it comes from is irrelevant.
A college degree does not guarantee a job either. And if you are lucky enough to find a decently paying job, you will have a mountain of debt to pay off from student loans, so why not use that time/money/resources to teach yourself and push yourself in the industry you want to be in.
College or school in general has never been for me. The moment I graduated high school, I had multiple high-paying offers from companies in the industry who wanted to hire me, because I have been in that industry since 11 and have owned multiple businesses in that particular industry (and no, that industry is not anything related with Real Estate, RE investing is a new venture I'm currently just getting started with).
@Cliff Odom I agree southern California is a tough place to start my father just finished a flip on a 1100sqf home with 2 beds and 2 baths that cost him $180k to buy in rough shape, he did end up selling it in 2 months for $245k but still even very small bad quality homes are ridiculous. I'll have to look into other states my only worry is a day job and having to pay for my own place to live at first because all of my family lives in southern California.
Your parents are smart, and in a contractor's point of view, you should stick to the same market, low and hot, if you sell anything below 300k, even if it is ugly, it will sell, just because many people qualify for it. If I had that much time, I would go for the insurance agent at daily job, get a 750-780 credit score, establish a company (raise up business credit score/paydex at least 85, bank loan via paydex score is possible) and pay yourself (make it look like it is your second job) to get better leverage/higher buying capacity, getting a real estate COURSE not a license, getting yourself to be assigned as RE Assistant (gives you MLS access). By the end of everything and after 1 year, you will have 150k cash, 250k LOC from paydex, 500-600k LOC from fico score, that is 900k for cash use. With 20% leverage, that is 5M worth of properties. LOL, just kidding, not really true, but this is a compilation of what I have read.
@Account Closedawesome thank you!
@Steven G. I really appreciate your replies, what is the best way in your opinion to get in touch with these other investors? Also should I look at moving out of California as Cliff suggested?
Welcome to the site man. Sounds to me like you've got a level head on your shoulders. I like how you realize the blessing that is the situation your parents created for you. I would try to get in on their flips. Look into marketing. You could actually sell deals to your folks and then watch them rehab. Once you get a feel for it try it on your own.
Leverage your funds modestly. You don't want to tie everything you have up on one deal.
Reach out to @Jerry Puckettcon here. He is my marketing guy. If you drop 1500 a month in yellow letters you'll make back well above and beyond your initial investment. I started with no cash whatsoever. I put my first month of leads on a cc and went for it. In my first month my business partner and I got our first deal. It brought in 10k in profit. Paid for my marketing and then some.
This is a great site to be a part of and one of the smartest things you did was joining up. Stick around let me know if I can help you further.
Btw I'm only 21. Closed my first deal right after I turned 20. I actually dropped my first batch of mail when I was 19. I'd rather come home to my wife and be an investor than chase skirts!
What would I do if I was 18 again? Well, that's a loaded question. I would absolutely EVERYTHING differently! I would find the highest producing real estate office, complete the training (which you can do part-time btw) and obtain my license. Heck, it's a whole lot cheaper than college! But more than anything, the wealth of knowledge you obtain in this endeavor will blow your mind and launch you forward and give you a good head start in investing.
That's my advice. :-)
I say this all the time. I would join the military. Specifically The Coast Guard or Marines. What a great way to build discipline, job experience, have fun, travel, learn to lead others, learn sacrifice and selflessness, build comraderie, gain LIFE perspective, establish your credibility and character as a young man, and build your credit. You also get to have tons of fun blowing stuff up maybe, or driving boats and helping people.
At 22 you get out of a 4 year enlistment. And you walk away with all the above, and..... the Post 9/11 GI Bill (pays for your the highest in state tuition in whatever state you are in) Housing allowance at the E-5 pay grade (how much depends on the market and where you go to school), and an extra $1000 a year. And that's not all... Your VA loan. Find a Multi Family home, do an owner occupied for $0 down, live in it, and collect rent. As far as college students go, you'd be balling!
If I only knew then what I know now. It didn't turn out so bad for me, free education, promoted from E-1 to O-3 in under ten years, Did I mention I get to drive a 13K ton ship through 20 feet of ice in Antarctica! pretty sweet.
I've already thought about that and scored very well on the ASVAB I got approved for nuke in the navy only thing is nuke is a 2 year school so a 6 year term.
Go join the army or the Air force, but make ABSOLUTELY sure you get into intel. That will get you a top secret clearance and as long as you stay out of trouble and keep that clearance you will always be able to find a a nice paying job. I know someone who hasn't worked in that field for ten years and they are still getting job offers.
I have nothing against Navy or Marines, but there were a lot more former army and air force in any of the several places I worked than there were Navy, Marines or by a long shot Coast Guard.
@Steven G. I really appreciate your replies, what is the best way in your opinion to get in touch with these other investors? Also should I look at moving out of California as Cliff suggested?
No, no, no. Stay in California. Don't leave your friends & family, to invest in Texas, especially when you have NO experience and your only 18. No way, no how. I am from Texas and its a great buy & hold state, to the most part, but we do have higher property taxes here vs in California. Plus the rehab opportunities are far greater in California, because property values skyrocket there ... when they stay rather stable here in Texas.
Get your yourself a real estate license, and start selling houses for other people. Either do insurance during the week & real estate part-time OR do real-estate full-time. Then buy yourself a few leveraged rentals, and start doing rehabs with borrowed money (try to get 1-5 year bank loan at 6-8% interest, from a local community bank, not a hard money loan if you can avoid it). Bam...you will make money.
You might find in just 2-3 rehabs, you make your entire year's salary as a real estate or insurance agent.
But how do you buy right? Where do you buy in your area? And how do you run comps? And how do you negotiate a deal? That's what you learn by becoming a real estate agent first.
You cannot build a castle without a solid foundation. Build a castle - not a house of cards. And you WILL be a multi-millionaire, sooner than later.
Hi @Miles Smith, I would buy a house in Riverside! I would buy a house to rent out some of the rooms to make my payment almost nothing, and then use the rest of the capital to start identifying rentals. What an incredible place to be in at your age. Hope to see you around Riverside.
@Aaron Norriswhat type of home in Riverside would you recommend? A single family home that would be somewhere around van Buren and orange terrace or a multi unit home down by magnolia?
Seriously Kid.
You're 18, take a big bite out of life.
Find yourself a "Fair Maiden" who needs rescuing :)
Believe me, it's something every guy should do .And the education you get is priceless
@Miles Smith, if you're open to renting out some rooms, there are some great single family homes downtown that are newer. I had a friend in his mid 20s buy there a few years back and he's rented two rooms our the entire time effectively making his mortgage payment obsolete.
If it were me at your age, I would look for something decent that I'd be interested in holding long term. However, not too expensive that I'm a slave to mortgage payments. I live downtown and love it. There are some wonderful things happening downtown.
You probably know better than anyone what students want and Riverside alone has 50,000 of them! I would suggest easy parking, included utilities, and extra credit for a maid once a month to clean because that way you can attract maybe graduate students that aren't so interested in keggers. :)
Just an FYI, there are some restriction in Riverside on the number unrelated residents per household. Some UCR students were stuffing too many people into small houses and throwing parties that upset the neighbors. I'm not sure if they've updated that. If you're looking in an HOA area, that's something you'll also have to look at. In my neighborhood, our HOA is seriously about to crack down on the parking because absentee landlords and allowing students to share rooms.
If you can swing a fourplex, downtown has some beautiful ones, I just get scared of the repair bills because not all have been well taken care of and they are really old. Magnolia might be good since it's within close range to CBU and RCC.