What advice do you wish someone had told you at 21 years old?

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What advice do you wish someone had told you at 21 years old?

Tyler Labrador
Rental Property Investor · Las Vegas · Member since 2018 · 6 posts · 5 votes

Doesn't have to be real estate related! I just want to hear what life's big lessons have taught you, and how I can learn from it. 

Some of my background:

  • I live in Las Vegas, NV
  • I have a girlfriend
  • I read a lot and I try to go to as many RE events as my schedule allows to network
  • I currently save 25% of my income ($500/mo), and next year I plan to cut down on food, rent, and car ( I've heard about the book "Set for Life" and I'm planning on reading it soon! ) in order to save close to 50% after my promotion ($1500/mo)
  • No debt, $500 emergency fund. I want to build it to 5k.
  • 750 credit score, never missed a payment
  • I'm thinking about buying a 4b house next year, living in one bedroom and renting out the other rooms to friends at $500 each. However, Vegas market prices are high and I'm hearing some local investors say that we're starting to enter a recession. Some thoughts?

My goal is financial independence and real estate is my ticket to wealth. Buy and holds will be my bread and butter, and I eventually want to move into multifamily. Any and all advice is appreciated! It doesn't have to be real estate related! Thank you!  (:

1Reply
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Most Popular Reply

Frank Wong
Real Estate Broker · Bay Area · Member since 2018 · 1k+ posts · 3k+ votes
7y

If I was 21 again I wish there was BP and someone told me to listen and read all the comments from @Jay Hinrichs @Jim K.

@Steve Vaughan    @Joseph M. @Russell Brazil @Thomas S. @Ned Carey

@J Scott @Account Closed

11Reply
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  • Aaron K.
    Specialist · Riverside, CA · Member since 2015 · 6k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    7y

    Vegas isn't necessarily crashing but could be stagnating after white hot growth for most of this year.  Keep saving and do the math to see what works for you; you are on the right track you just need to get started.

    1Reply
  • Shahriar Khan
    Investor · Houston, TX · Member since 2010 · 234 posts · 145 votes
    7y

    @Tyler Labrador assuming that 21 is about to wrap up college. 

    1)  Finish College and get a good job. Right kind of Corporate job will teach your structure and process and all those good stuff.

    2) Take earning and learning from #1 and invest is RE.  Use RE to increase Balance sheet and W2 for Revenue. 

    3) Think scale and volume and keep circulating 1& 2 till you feel comfortable  and then make a choice which ship to jump on 100%

    4) Wealth happens by focusing on Revenue not cutting cost ... So grow revenue and be cost efficient. 

    5) Prepare to be disappointed a lot :) 

    Wish you the best ...

    2Reply
  • Bob B.
    Investor · Jasper GA · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    7y

    I received a lot of advice in my youth and unfortunately didn't apply much attention to most of it.  

    Good for you seeking advice.  

    One piece of advice I remember was" there's always another train coming down the track".    

    3Reply
  • Jim K.
    Handyman · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2018 · 5k+ posts · 13k+ votes
    7y

    @Tyler Labrador

    Sooner or later in your life, you're going to fail. You're going to get a pep talks galore from all the superficial, shallow, and devoid-of-introspection people in your life about getting up and going on and succeeding from your failure, learning and growing and doing great because you're a fine, fine person with tenacity, and courage, and spirit, and that mystique-laden country-cornpone wisdom-word "grit."

    This is all BS in my book, if you haven't figured that out already from the way I write about it.

    Take yourself less seriously. Carefully cultivate the ability to laugh at your pretensions. The only way I've found to deal more effectively with failure is to get over myself and stay over myself as much as I can.

    1Reply
  • Steve K.
    Honolulu, HI · Member since 2017 · 247 posts · 315 votes
    7y

    https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/630353-advice-to-your-20-year-old-self?highlight_post=3751089&page=1#p3751089

    1Reply
  • Pat L.
    Rental Property Investor · Upstate, NY · Member since 2012 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    7y

    best advice I ever had...

    7Reply
  • James MasottiPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Washington Township, NJ · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 976 votes
    7y

    @Tyler Labrador - I purchased my first home at 22 in 2008 and started renting it out when I was 23. Then I didn't buy another one until 2016. Basically I missed out on the best years to be buying real estate...so with perfect 20/20 hind sight I would tell myself spend less money on stupid stuff and save more to be buying more real estate. Especially when my company relocated me to California. Condo's I was looking to buy in the low $100's are now selling in the low to mid $200's. 

    Without perfect 20/20 hind sight to take advantage of the market conditions that existed at that time, it would have been to spend less frivolously and save a lot more of my income. I was making some pretty decent money and have absolutely no idea where it all went. 

    Podcast Guest on Show #312
    2Reply
  • Christopher Sparacino
    New to Real Estate · Sarasota, FL · Member since 2018 · 82 posts · 49 votes
    7y

    Hello everyone, you asked so I will answer:

    1. Get off the pot

    2. Go back to school and finish an associates 

    3. Get a job that pays a median income

    4. Move out

    5. Save and invest 20% of all income in stock market until you have enough to buy a multi family, then rent it out

    Chris

    4Reply
  • Frank Wong
    Real Estate Broker · Bay Area · Member since 2018 · 1k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    7y

    If I was 21 again I wish there was BP and someone told me to listen and read all the comments from @Jay Hinrichs @Jim K.

    @Steve Vaughan    @Joseph M. @Russell Brazil @Thomas S. @Ned Carey

    @J Scott @Account Closed

    11Reply
  • Jason Hirko
    Lender · San Antonio, TX · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    7y

    Quit drinking so much!

    5Reply
  • Luke Haywas
    Investor · Tucson, AZ · Member since 2018 · 8 posts · 6 votes
    7y
    Don't eat and drink all your money! Don't have expensive hobbies (yet) - plenty of awesome fun you can have for free, and plenty of time for the spendy toys later down the road when you are rich. Live as cheap as you can while you are young and can tolerate it... the harder you save now, the sooner you will be able to move up. Not money related but still important: in your 20s you are young, healthy and resilient... don't abuse this. Build a good foundation of health, fitness, and strength, because at that age it is easy. Keeping yourself healthy and strong doubles in difficulty every ten years, so build a good foundation while it is easy. The dividends this will pay down the road, in terms of increased energy and motivation, are astounding.
    3Reply
  • Jack B.
    Rental Property Investor · Seattle, WA · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    7y

    Have you ever had room mates? Then don't go in buying a house thinking you can afford it (right now you can't) only if you rent out the rooms.

    If  you have had room mates and are OK with it, don't rent to friends or family. You need to draw a line between business and friends.

    1Reply
  • Alvin Sylvain
    Los Angeles · Member since 2018 · 466 posts · 471 votes
    7y
    @Tyler Labrador Don't sit on your hands. It doesn't matter much exactly WHAT you do -- if you eff up, you're not too old to back out and try something else -- but do SOMETHING. Always, always, always have something in the works, either planning or execution. You see some method or system you want to try, peek in long enough to aim, then jump on in. Be cautious, but don't be afraid. You can patch up your scrapes and scars and bruises then learn to avoid them as you go.
    2Reply
  • Alvin Sylvain
    Los Angeles · Member since 2018 · 466 posts · 471 votes
    7y
    @Tyler Labrador And when you're 26, take long hard look at what you've been doing for the past five years, and decide whether you want to continue on that road or change to something else.
    1Reply
  • Pat L.
    Rental Property Investor · Upstate, NY · Member since 2012 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    7y

    Just looked at my old passport. When I was 21 I was sitting on the beach in Estoril drinking brandy alexanders. There was a cholera outbreak so when we were flying back to London (our base was the Australian High Commission) we ended up in France quarantined. But having been in the military I had all the shots (we still had our med docs in our passports) so we were released.

    Got back to Aussie that year & bought my first home for $4800. In 2012 that same home sold for $900k.

    2Reply
  • Vanno VongPro Member
    Real Estate Broker · Lynnwood, WA · Member since 2016 · 5 posts · 3 votes
    7y
    • don’t stay comfortable. If you don’t challenge yourself than you won’t improve.
    • It’s okay to say no to friends and family
    • “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with” surround yourself with like minded people or people that you want to become.
    • Read
    • Just do it!
    3Reply
  • Aaron Young
    Flipper/Rehabber · Vernal, UT · Member since 2017 · 7 posts · 4 votes
    7y
    @Tyler Labrador Get out and FAIL forward. Reach up for your friends and not down. Don’t worry for a second of what other people think or may think. Take action consistently on making your own dreams a reality, Or you’ll end up Working for someone else’s dream.
    1Reply
  • Casey Powers
    Las Vegas, NV · Member since 2018 · 405 posts · 474 votes
    7y

    How to manage credit. By far the most expensive lesson I had to learn on my own, was about credit. 

    Next would be how to buy a duplex and let someone else pay my mortgage as a youngster. 

    2Reply
  • Zachary Anderson
    Investor · Palma Ceia, FL · Member since 2017 · 7 posts · 5 votes
    7y
    @Tyler Labrador My parents (and pretty much society as a whole) always told me to go to school, study hard, keep “quality” company, get a good corporate job, save in a 401k, find the love of a good, honest woman (or man) and marry them, buy a house large enough to grow a family, and have lots of children (after all, they come with tax deductions). This is apparently called the “American Dream.” My biggest piece of advice is to do AS LITTLE of the above as possible. This philosophy is basically just “heard mentality” and creates a zombie workforce, anchored in student loan debt and mortgage debt.... and if you make a good W-2 living, you won’t qualify for ANY of the “tax deductions” that everyone gets excited about. The MUCH better option would be to find that good woman (or man) and make a pact to “live like college kids” at least as far as expenses go... you don’t REALLY need that new car, that big shiny engagement ring, the 5-figure wedding, the huge house, etc. and if you didn’t finish college... so what! Learn to hustle, educate yourself, DO WHAT YOUR MOST PASSIONATE ABOUT (ie. Real Estate) and encircle yourself with people who love what you love AND who make a good living doing it. Don’t focus on the “revenue”... that was my costliest mistake... and if money is your goal... you need to think a little harder... money is only a tool to reach the TRUE GOAL. Buy a Quad or a Tri and rent out the units... your girlfriend/wife will appreciate the added privacy versus a single family renting out bedrooms... just my two cents... GOOD LUCK!
    4Reply
  • Scott SmithPro Member
    Attorney · Austin, TX · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 932 votes
    7y

    @Tyler Labrador,

    Hey man, you have yourself going down a strong path financially, and you seem to have a good head on your shoulders. By the time you hit my age you will probably have more wisdom than I. Instead, I will share a couple points I would have told myself

    • Learn from people who have traveled down the path you are looking to dive into - mentors, gurus, anyone - and decide if their current lifestyle really reflects what will make you satisfied. So many people chase a lifestyle that really wont satisfy them once they achieve it
    • Life is about the balance of pushing yourself and also not taking yourself too seriously - it's different for each person. Find what balance resonates with you, then embrace it - share it - grow it
    • If you do something, do it better to the best of your ability. This is often about simply asking the underlying questions about why people do what they do, and solving the causes instead of trying to deal with symptoms

    Just some thoughts

    Podcast Guest on Show #109
    1Reply
  • Junior Soares
    Contractor · San Jose, CA · Member since 2018 · 262 posts · 407 votes
    7y
    @Tyler Labrador I wish someone told me to save and invest my money when I was 21 and to reinvest your profits and not spending them. I would be 11 years ahead of where I'm at now hahah.
    1Reply
  • Account Closed
    Specialist · Paradise Valley, AZ · Member since 2018 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    7y
    Originally posted by @Shahriar Khan:

    @Tyler Labrador assuming that 21 is about to wrap up college. 

    1)  Finish College and get a good job. Right kind of Corporate job will teach your structure and process and all those good stuff.

    2) Take earning and learning from #1 and invest is RE.  Use RE to increase Balance sheet and W2 for Revenue. 

    3) Think scale and volume and keep circulating 1& 2 till you feel comfortable  and then make a choice which ship to jump on 100%

    4) Wealth happens by focusing on Revenue not cutting cost ... So grow revenue and be cost efficient. 

    5) Prepare to be disappointed a lot :) 

    Wish you the best ...

     I have an advanced degree and college did nothing for me to advance my real estate investing. It held me back. I could have used the money and time to get farther faster without going to college. Don't go into debt for college. Make your money and then study anything you want. Focus, focus, focus on real estate and the area you want to specialize in. It will pay lifelong dividends.

    0Reply
  • Joel Fine
    Rental Property Investor · Leander, TX · Member since 2018 · 183 posts · 264 votes
    7y

    1. Buy a multi family that needs some work. Move in.

    2. Fix it up.

    3. Rent it out.

    4. Go to step 1.

    1Reply
  • Aaron Hunt
    All Over, USA · Member since 2017 · 689 posts · 756 votes
    7y
    Learn how to sell or learn how to fix. And besides that...FBGM.
    0Reply
  • Jeremy Albers
    Realtor · Greensboro · Member since 2018 · 34 posts · 11 votes
    7y

    Simple answer: What you think is important now will seem insignificant later on.

    0Reply
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