Starting out with real estate what to do?

Question

Hey everyone, I’m 21 years old with a wife and two kids. And I really want to make my wife a stay at home mom. But I don’t really understand real estate or how to start off. I feel like I’ve tried everything and watched videos and it doesn’t make sense to me but I love real estate it’s so fascinating and interesting from what I’ve seen and heard. I’d love to learn from anyone and teach me, I’m willing to dedicate everything to this. Can anyone help me, give me advice, show me the steps, or be a mentor. I really want to start rentals but I have no money saved right now, what can I do before rentals to start making extra money besides my regular job to start saving for a rental.

Paul De Luca · Answer

@Acacio Abbott

First, you need to learn the fundamentals of real estate investing. Once you have a baseline of foundational knowledge, take that and apply it to your personal situation.

Here's a list of some books I think you'll find the most useful when getting started with real estate investing:

• The Book on Rental Property Investing by Brandon Turner
• The Book on Managing Rental Properties by Brandon Turner
• The Book on Investing in Real Estate with Low (and No) Money Down by Brandon Turner
• Landlording On Autopilot by Mike Butler
• Set For Life by Scott Trench
• The House Hacking Strategy by Craig Curelop
• The Millionaire Real Estate Investor by Jay Papasan and Gary Keller
• Cash Flow Quadrant by Robert Kiyosaki
• Retire Young Retire Rich by Robert Kiyosaki
• The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel

Also, since you have no money saved at the moment I recommend reading personal finance books to help you build up some savings so you can invest. Listen to the BiggerPockets podcast too.

Acacio Abbott · Answer

@Ryan Taylor id love to this. That sounds like a great idea, I'd love your help, ideas, knowledge, and tips if you could message me an help me understand and learn about it. Thank you!

Caleb Brown · Answer

Do side hustles to earn extra $$. Attend meetups and network locally. Your focus needs to be earning more money

Ben Fernandez · Answer

You’re in the education stage.

While you’re saving and establishing fundability with lenders (if applicable), you should be immersing yourself in learning as much as possible.

Go to Amazon and order books about first time home buying and rental investing. This will be a great start for you.

In regards to making extra money, get your side hustles going asap!

You’re not ready to service anyone in any real estate capacity. However, if you can find a local apprenticeship you join, working shoulder to shoulder with a real estate professional, do it. (Do this after you've read your books...) Just know that, that time will likely be like an unpaid internship.

For REI strategies that require low amounts of cash you can later pursue, look into; wholesaling, tax liens, tax deeds and bird dogging. Again focus on education right now.

Good question! Go get'em!

Christopher M. Wiley · Answer

Brother — 21, married, two kids, and you're asking the right questions. That alone tells me something about who you are.

Let me be honest with you the way I wish someone had been honest with me.

Rentals are the goal. But right now your goal is to build the foundation that makes rentals possible. That means three things: learn the numbers, protect your family financially, and don't let anyone sell you a shortcut.

I paid $60,000 to real estate programs before I figured this out. That cost me two years and more stress than I want to admit. I wrote a book about what actually works so people like you don't have to pay that price.

Start here — for free: grab the SCS Frontier REI Analyzer at the link in my bio. Run numbers on properties in your area. Do it every week until a deal makes sense to you on paper before you ever touch real money.

While you're doing that — pick up any extra income you can. House hacking is worth researching when you're ready: buying a small multi-family, living in one unit, letting tenants cover your mortgage. That is how a lot of people with no savings build their first position.

You don't need a mentor who charges you. You need honest information and a system. That's what I'm here for.

We're all in this life together — let's be honest. You've got the drive. Now build the foundation. Everything else follows from there.

— Christopher | SCS Frontier

John Lopez · Answer

@Acacio Abbott

Respect for being intentional about your family at 21 - that mindset will take you far.

I'd say don't try to learn everything at once. Pick rentals and go deep on that one strategy. While you're saving, focus on building your credit score to 680+ because everything in real estate - your approval, your rate, your terms - runs on credit. That's free to work on right now and it opens every door later.

When you're ready to buy, look into DSCR loans - they qualify you based on the property's rental income, not your personal income. Game changer for people starting out.

Keep asking questions here or you can reach out, you're in the right place.

Mohammed Rahman · Answer

Rentals are a great long-term goal, but with no savings right now, the first step is less about “buying a property” and more about building financial footing and understanding how the game actually works.

Before anything else, I’d focus on two things:

First, learn the basics in a simple way. Not YouTube hype or get rich quick content, but how deals actually work. Things like credit, debt-to-income ratio, how loans are underwritten, what cash flow really means, and what it actually costs to own and maintain a rental. Once that clicks, everything becomes a lot less confusing.

Second, focus on increasing income and building savings consistently. Even an extra few hundred dollars a month in side income can make a big difference over time if it’s consistent.

Down the line, once you’ve saved up and have your credit and income in a good place, a house hack can be one of the best entry points.

Kamil Lysik · Answer

Do you check listing portals? What are your experiences with searching through them?"

Theresa Harris · Answer

To buy a rental, you will need 20% for a down payment plus money for closing costs and reserves for vacancy.  Look for a local meet up group (they won't charge money other than perhaps a small fee (eg $5) if they have to rent space).  Keep the money you are saving in a safe place (ie don't do a risky investment).

Decide what type of rental you want (short term, long term, house, condo, etc) and then start looking in the area you are wanting to buy to get an idea of price.  Also get an idea of how much you will actually make-for most long term rentals, you aren't going to get rich quick.

Also what does your wife do for a living?  Her income will be important even if she wants to be a stay at home mom.  If she quits her job, your income will go down a lot.

Starting out with real estate what to do?

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