Buying Small Multifamily While In College
Hello BP, I am a college student that is about to start my junior year of college and I am just now moving off to a college town (Auburn, AL woot woot) this year. My first two years of college were spent at the local community college in my hometown and now that I am moving the popular question comes up, “Why not just buy your own house instead of renting?” I’ve always been one for investing and I’ve been studying real estate for probably about a year now, and plan on doing it once I graduate, but I can’t help but to think: “Why not start now?” I absolutely love the idea of house hacking, and my plan is to buy a small multifamily and live in it while I rent out the other units. Unfortunately, I am a poor college student. I do have an apartment rented for the Fall through Summer (August 2017 - July 2017) of my junior year, so I have 1 full year to make up my mind and get a plan together. The college has a pretty good co-op plan from what I understand, (Alternating semesters of work and school -- gives the student a full year's worth of full time work experience before graduation) so if I can get a job through that I will be in the college town for a total of three years, Junior, Senior, plus an extra for work. Long term plans are to own a number of SMF rentals, and progress into buying full apartment complexes. Thankfully I have two lovely parents that are paying for my Bachelor’s degree, plus rent, plus a monthly allowance for groceries – I am very appreciative. My question is this: Should I just focus on my degree and start investing as soon as I graduate, and have a full time job, or should I try to get a part time job in college and buy a SMF when I save enough for a down payment? Bonus questions are, how should I prepare myself to be able to acquire a FHA loan? I have zero credit history, how do I earn enough of credit to buy a house?
Thanks so much for any replies, I have already learned so much from BP. I think this is a great tool for investors.