If you were in college, how would you get started in investing?

[Justin L Hopkins]

In about 2 weeks, ill be a freshman at FAMU university majoring in accounting, my question to all seasoned investors is, as a college student with very little expendable income, how would you get started in investing? is it better to wait after college until I get my accounting career? any response is appreciated 

[Brian Ky]

If you are in college, you can find a cheap single family house near the school.  Once you buy it, turn around and rent out each bedroom.  If you have a 3 bedroom house, the two bedrooms you rent should cover the cost of the place.  Just save any extra money you get for repairs.

If you can find a duplex, you can rent out one side completely and rent out the extra bedrooms in the side you stay on.  Tri/Fourplexes are the same game.

Thing to remember is being near the school your tenants will likely be college students.  They wont mind sharing the place just like you wont mind.  Having their own room is better than living in the dorms, especially with a more private bathroom. 

Once you graduate from college, you wont need to sell the home as there will always be another college student who will need a place to stay.  This is what makes investing around colleges a great deal. 

There was a podcast a couple years ago of a college student who bought a place rented out everything and realized he was making money.  So he bought another place just to rent and did the old rinse and repeat.  I forget how many places he owned by the time he completed college but it was in the ball park of 40 doors.  If I could have done it all over again when I was in college, this is what I would have done.  Now that I have a family, I can't use this style of investing, but I encourage all of the single people I work with to do it.