Let's get real about starting out

Buying & Selling Real Estate
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Let's get real about starting out

Dustin Ruff
Minneapolis, MN · Member since 2017 · 40 posts · 70 votes
There are so many positive stories about people starting their investment careers on here and online that aren't painting a completely accurate picture. Most people are living paycheck to paycheck. The statistics on people even having a savings account, let alone 10-20k to put into real estate, are abysmal at best. Most people don't have a parent that can lend them the money either. And if there is a relative or friend with that money willing to take that kind of risk you need to be able to sit on that money long enough so the bank doesn't question it and then be able to find the right deal for it after that. The stories of college kids buying houses is great, but let's not pretend you made that money working in the student book store. And if so how?! My point is there's a big piece missing from these "rags to riches" stories. I think it'd be much more helpful to share how folks honestly and actually got to a point where they could make that first decision. Did your parents help? Was college free? Did you work three jobs and save for 2 years? Were your job earnings large to start with? How did you actually get there?
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Mike Sattem
Investor · La Grande, OR · Member since 2014 · 194 posts · 176 votes
9y

@Dustin Ruff,

It's all about the Hustle. I believe that's why so many folks use the house hacking strategy to get started. Most Americans have the ability to qualify for some type of a low money down loan (USDA, VA, or FHA), which makes getting into their first property as an owner-occ and then converting to a rental pretty easy. I spent a year in Iraq to make the cash to get started in Real Estate; it sucked being away from family, but if you want it, you will find a way.

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  • Noah Scott
    Real Estate Agent · West Chester, PA · Member since 2017 · 83 posts · 42 votes
    9y

    @Dustin Ruff You make a great point and ask some important questions. Being a newer member of BP, I find myself listening to the podcast hearing about people in their young 20s (I am 23) finding and buying some awesome deals; I often think some of the same questions.

    I feel privileged that I have found BP so early on, and started my path toward REI. I have not invested yet, as I am currently educating myself and raising the capital for my first investment.

    I am extremely fortunate that my college education was paid for by my parents. That allowed me to work during my school years and save up money. Additionally, should current statutes stay in place, I am able to stay under my folks' Healthcare plan until I am 26

    I currently own a small independent wholesale distribution service, which I paid for with the money saved during my college years. I make a median wage, and after paying for the overhead for my business, this allows me to live a frugal lifestyle; however, I am not able to save much towards capital for my first investment.

    My business partner and I run a pretty flexible and lenient schedule. In essence, we are able to make a full-time median wage working part-time hours. This allows me to search for other streams of income. I am in the process of becoming a licensed agent in PA. I hope to work in the field, raising capital and making good connections that I can use for the REI portion of my life.

    I have been blessed with a good upbringing and supportive parents. But that is not all of what makes me, ME. 

    It is the combination of my upbringing and my own initiative that puts me in the place I am to this day.

    1Reply
  • Caleb Heimsoth
    Rental Property Investor · Durham, NC · Member since 2016 · 7k+ posts · 7k+ votes
    9y
    Noah Scott my advice to you would just be to go slow. I'm also 23. If you just buy one property a year you'll be at 7 by 30 which is still better than most. See if there's a way to cut back on living expenses to say enough for a DP.
    1Reply
  • Johnny QuilenderinoPro Member
    Real Estate Agent · Slidell, LA · Member since 2017 · 208 posts · 267 votes
    9y

    Good afternoon BP and fellow investors,

    I started getting serious about investing in real estate two years ago and started saving 2k a month. I was in a tough job in the navy and I needed to start thinking about my "exit strategy" from the military. Fast forward to April, I found a triplex and a four plex on sale for 130k. We closed in May and my wife and I thought wow that was easy, so we looked at our other properties that were single family and decided a 1031 for our two single family residences is going to be our next step.

    1) 1031 - As of Sep we will complete both the sell of our SFR and the purchase of a 6 plex!

    2) We convinced our tenant to buy our second SFR and our second 1031 in one year will start as of Nov. We have eyed two 4 plexes or a deal on a another 4 and 3 plex package.

    3) We have orders to move to DC next year and I still have VA loan option that I can put into play. Commence the house hack until my wife moves up there a year later.

    4) Once my wife moves up there a year later she has her VA Loan to use and we will buy a property for us to stay in.

    5) Flipping will start next month. We have our 6 months in of savings and get approximately 4k in NOI and feel we are financially prepared to take a step into that direction. Flip three buy one until I retire from the military.

    Our goal is 20 units cash flowing by June 2018, and working on our second flip by then. 

    It all starts with the commitment to save and "DO SOMETHING" then do it again.

    Very respectfully,

    J Q

    5Reply
  • Noah Scott
    Real Estate Agent · West Chester, PA · Member since 2017 · 83 posts · 42 votes
    9y

    @Caleb Heimsoth sound advice. My goal is (as I think it should be for all of us) is to invest intelligently. That could mean investing in 1 property a year, or it could mean investing in more than that depending on what the market, the deals I vet, and my finances allow.

    As I mentioned, I live a decently frugal lifestyle. I also own and operate a small business which has certain amounts of overhead that are non-negotiable. I factor all of that in when coming up with my plan to invest.

    Good luck Caleb! 

    1Reply
  • Tim G.
    Rental Property Investor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2011 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    9y

    I house hacked a rental for 5 years in San Deigo and saved $85k from my outside sales job. This taught me how to live cheap, screen tenants and learn the rental business. In 2013 my with 85k I put it all in on a $352K fourplex and $337k house in San Diego. 

    I quit my day job in 2014, I flip and wholesale when I want to and my rental income is nearly where I can stop working. 

    When I came to California in 2008 I had a borrowed car, $1000 in cash and $20k in debt. I was so stressed and scared, now I look back and it was the best time ever. Enjoy the journey!

    7Reply
  • Lukas Vanagaitis
    Flipper/Rehabber · St Petersburg, FL · Member since 2016 · 44 posts · 14 votes
    9y

    I moved to the states from Europe with $7k in savings from which I had to get a car, get an apartment and just settle down. Got a job, worked 80 hr weeks (at least at the dream job on high-end residential properties and wholesaling RE). As someone mentioned, it all comes down to the hustle. It took me 9 months to close my first deal, but I never let myself down and never considered quitting. I'm listening to the audiobooks and podcasts all the time and used to send out mailers out of my last savings. So basically it took me 2 years alone of really really hard work just to be able to be in Real Estate full time without having another job.

    1Reply
  • Lance Nguyen
    Investor · Happy Valley, OR · Member since 2012 · 5 posts · 9 votes
    9y

    What an inspiration reading all of the above posts! That's one of the beauty I love about real estate, that it can be for everyone from all aspects of life. 

    I am nowhere close to any of you. Still in my rags phase. Here is my story. My parents and I are immigrants who came over from Vietnam in 1984. My parents weren't educated and began farming for a living in America. I remember the long days in the strawberry and hay fields. My parents didn't make a lot of income but were able to support 7 kids, 5 of whom graduated from at least 4 years of college and 2 with doctorate degrees. On top of that they were able to get out of the rat race by around 2005. They were very frugal and was able to save up to invest in multifamily homes. They now live off of the 12 duplexes (24 doors) that they have paid off. They have always encouraged me to invest in rental properties since I graduated from college but being young and stupid I didn't listen. On top of that I had a spouse who wasn't into investing and would rather live for today than invest in the future (don't get me wrong she is a great gal....we just have different drives, goals and aspirations). I have always been somewhat interested in rental properties, tagging along with my dad when he worked on his rentals. Whenever I brought up real estate investing with my spouse my dream and aspiration would get derailed. 

    Now that I am a single father with joint custody to my 2 children I have been bit by the REI bug really bad. It is a culmination of a lot of things but two of the biggest driving factors (my why's) are being tired of how much I get taxed on my W-2 job and being a role model for my kids and teaching them financial literacy. Like many of you I am moved by Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad Poor Dad narrative. I am what Robert calls the upper middle-income class. I make a decent income from my W-2 job but after my pretaxed Roth IRA contribution, post-taxed Roth contribution, kids college savings and federal/state taxes I would be lucky if I pocket 50% of what I make. I may be book smart but my financial literacy stinks. I now realize that I am stuck deep in a rat race, constantly working more and picking up a lot of overtime at my work to save more, only to find that I pocket either the same or less than if I didn't work overtime. I guess the only positive with my W-2 job is that it is pretty laid back and provides me with plenty of time to educate myself in REI (don't tell my boss please). This 'job' also affords me a decent income to invest in my 'business'.

    I have also made it a goal to teach my kids financial literacy. Being only 8 and 10 years old they are still a little young to be reading thick REI books. However I have them work with me to break down potential deals and to save up at an early age so they don't have to work as hard in the future. I am also sharing with them that while it is important that they study hard to get into a good college it is also important to be financially literate.

    Not a day goes by that I don't listen to at least 1 BP podcast (I have listened to about 1/3rd of them), read a REI book or surfed BP forums. Not a week goes by that I don't order a book or two online. I have also started breaking down deals on my own time and attending REIA meetings around town. It's also nice to be able to share my math/numbers with my dad. As mentioned in my profile I am also in the process of studying for my real estate agent license and I plan to do something 'real estate' related by May 2018. In the meantime I will continue to learn and work hard to save up. Hoping for my first deal soon. I don't want to be one of those REI who have analysis paralysis and never do their first deal. But I also want to make sure that I have enough knowledge to be confident in making my first deal.

    After reading Scott Trench's Set For Life, I am looking into house hacking potentials, have cut out a lot of my expenses (Starbucks, fast foods, eating out) and trying to live on half of my income a month. 

    7Reply
  • Anthony GaydenPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Omaha, NE · Member since 2014 · 2k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    9y
    Dustin Ruff I hustled hard!!! What does that mean? I lived like a hermit, worked 60+ hours a week, knocked out my bad debt, saved a chunk of change and jumped into it. The biggest thing I did though was I stopped making excuses. 10 years ago I was working at wal-mart and barely getting by. I used to blame everything for my failures but one day I finally looked in the mirror.
    Podcast Guest on Show #21
    19Reply
  • Alex D.
    Rental Property Investor · Honolulu, HI · Member since 2015 · 143 posts · 61 votes
    9y

    My wife and I, haven't accomplished our goals......yet! However we are well on our way. I appreciate the post because even on some of the podcasts that I listen to, you're hearing people starting out......already having a nice nest egg to fall on. I'll see a title that states "Starting with nothing now makes $XXX amount" however in the middle of the show they'll say they pulled out a HELOC or borrowed from an IRA. It's very doable though!

    Us personally, it meant living a very frugal lifestyle. To start off with, we have an infant so one of the biggest expenses was diapers. We switched to cloth diapers and never had to buy another one again. Little things like monitoring utilities, connecting everything to surge protectors so appliances don't steal extra electricity, no cable or unnecessary entertainment additions. Netflix it or stream it online. Not eating out all of the time or hitting the movies, coffee made at home, driving a car that gets you from point A to B instead of having a 400-500+ car payment and lastly maybe scaling down your home which is most people's biggest expense. 

    My advice is to figure out a goal number and figuring out how long you'd like to get there. Say it's 20k in 24 months. You know that comes down to 833 a month. Figure out how to get to 833 a month. I personally feel there is always a little something extra you can do to get to your goal number as long as it's realistic.

    Great post! I'm excited to read everyone's story.

    1Reply
  • Chris Gibbs
    Investor · Portland, OR · Member since 2015 · 70 posts · 56 votes
    9y

    My fiance and I lived with 4 roommates in a house and saved as much as possible over a year to purchase a triplex with FHA financing.

    1Reply
  • David Dachtera
    Rental Property Investor · Rockford, IL · Member since 2014 · 4k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    9y
    Originally posted by @Dustin Ruff:

    Great stories folks. Hearing that part of the story makes it much more realistic as to what it takes and what to expect.

    Mostly, what it takes is education. Whether that be Hard Knocks U. (the most expensive education) or actual, real education (the least expensive), you have GOT to learn not only how much you need to learn - how much don't already know, you've got learn all those things about starting out that you haven't learned yet ... BEFORE you "take the first step".

    For example, one of the first things you need to learn is how to be in business WITHOUT using your own money / credit. That's where get the least efficient return. 

    So many would-be investors try to be in business before they've learned how. LOTS of stories, few successes.

    2Reply
  • Anastasia Jordan
    Investor · Birmingham, AL · Member since 2016 · 446 posts · 305 votes
    9y

    (Tax liens + D class areas)/401k loan = a start

    4Reply
  • Angelo Wong
    Investor · Milpitas, CA · Member since 2015 · 71 posts · 72 votes
    9y

    @Dustin Ruff 

    For me, it was saving up for around 2.5 years after I graduated (probably could have bought earlier but I had a $10k stint in the stock market that was...devastating). I live in the Bay Area, so I started by buying out of state property where the down payment was $40K.

    Now, I had $40K, but I wanted to minimize risk and was OK with minimizing the reward as well as it was my first property. So I partner up with someone and did 50-50 on an SFH just to learn the buying process.

    So I reduced cost in 2 ways:

    1) Buying out-of-state (or anywhere one might be able to afford)

    2) Partnering up and splitting up a deal (halve your cost right there)

    0Reply
  • Michael H.
    Rock Hill, SC · Member since 2015 · 104 posts · 209 votes
    9y

    if it was easy, everyone would do it. As for me, I'm house hacking. I have a four bedroom house and renting out the other three rooms. I know not everyone can do this but it's the easiest way for me to get started. 

    Enjoying people's stories!

    0Reply
  • Nicole Heasley Beitenman
    Investor · Youngstown, OH · Member since 2017 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    9y

    House hacking. I bought my primary residence fresh out of college and rent out the spare bedrooms. I am also forbearing my student loans. It's risky, I know, but if you don't like risk, you shouldn't be in REI.

    0Reply
  • Joe SplitrockPro Member
    Moderator
    Rental Property Investor · Sioux Falls, SD · Member since 2015 · 9k+ posts · 18k+ votes
    9y

    @Dustin Ruff I do get a little frustrated when we hear a "rags to riches" story on BP, only to find out that mom and dad loaned or gave them the money. Or one person on BP said they struggled starting out and had to skip a warm weather vacation one year. Talk about a privileged mentality, like that is a struggle?

    I started working when I was 8 years old doing a paper route (I know that dates me). I worked all through high school and college. I got into sales when I was 19 because I saw that it was the highest paying job out there. I saved my money until I started blowing it in my early 20's. Then I woke up and stopped the partying.

    My first deal was 100% financed and my second deal was 10% down with PMI. Neither of these options is available today on investment properties, unless you house hack.

    That leads me to my recommendation for a young person starting out. Immediately stop going to the bar. Stop going out to eat. Drive a crappy old beat up car. Put every penny in the bank. Find a duplex in a rough neighborhood and buy it owner occupied. Use PMI to keep your down payment under control. Live in one side and rent the other. Fix up the house while you live there. If you don't know how, learn how to do things on Youtube. Look at your career choice. Sales is a high paying profession and doesn't require college (realtor, car sales, etc). After you live in the duplex two years, buy another duplex. Live in the new one, rent the other side on your old one. Repeat.

    Money is necessary in real estate. Those you tell you otherwise are probably the ones who got it from mom and dad.  

    6Reply
  • Travis Dawson
    Investor · Moscow, ID · Member since 2017 · 107 posts · 76 votes
    9y

    I dunno, its true that some people are lucky enough to have a leg up. But others have have shown that it is still entirely possible to succeed without it.

    The key to life is to know how to play the cards you are given, not ***** about everyone else's hand.

    My story is that I bought my first duplex with money I've been saving since a child. No FHA, just a straight up conventional loan. They told me I needed 6 months of mortgage payments in my bank account post closing, and I was a little short so I got ~$2000 from my parents and then gave it back after closing.

    First deal is easy, its the next one that might be a bit difficult.

    1Reply
  • Jon Lee
    Investor · Las Vegas, NV · Member since 2014 · 471 posts · 241 votes
    9y

    @Dustin Ruff....LOVE THE FORUM TOPIC!

    I had to start my business with almost nothing...I just moved back to my home town of Las Vegas and didn't have much to work with.  I had to negotiate terms to pay for my training from my coach/mentor (who ended up becoming my business partner).  I focused on learning the investing fundamentals which consisted of the continued mastery of my mindset, my ability to communicate with people, and understanding both traditional and creative financing so I have flexibility in leverage property.

    After I finished my training program....it took 5 months of prospecting FSBO's & rental adds on Craigslist before I found my first two deals (a day apart). Lot's of phone calls but no expenses spent for direct marketing....allowed me to get really good at talking on the phone with sellers.

    My route was a little more different than most investors because I was also growing an investment meeting/network that provided by business partner and I two very important resources:  1) a very quickly growing network full of vendors & investors of various experience levels to partner & receive potential deals from & 2) many potential private money lenders/partners to work with.  To this day, I personally never used institutional lending for our deals and I can identify opportunity EVERYWHERE & I have potential deals coming to us all the time!

    While some folks have an amount of money to work with or was able to save money from a decent paying job...the most successful investors that I have seen come up started with NOTHING, similar to myself.  Their capital was the HUSTLE!!!!!  Their hustle and ability to learn how to create the deal allowed for them to practice patience, persistence, tenacity and discipline to stick with their plan until they were able to acquire their first property or complete their first flip.  Investors that I have had the chance to participate in their success include a man on unemployment who used to sleep on his mother's floor & now 

    In the five years since I have started investing, I have acquired/flipped properties in multiple states and have started growing a portfolio to create my financial independence and have created investment groups with licensee partners on both the east and west coasts.

    Again...thanks for the great forum topic!

    3Reply
  • Cole Hagen
    Rental Property Investor · Edwardsville, IL · Member since 2017 · 18 posts · 15 votes
    9y

    Dustin,

    I think a lot of the points that you bring up are caused from the stereotypical "millennial mindset"and their lack of work and lack of financial intelligence. I am currently 22 years old and have not made riches in real estate but do consider my self in a much stronger personal financial position  than the majority of my peers. This is due to the fact that I started working when I was 15 (mowing yards) which allowed me to purchase my own vehicle and begin my savings career. From here I worked all through high school and college in order to fund college. Because I lived at home and went to a local junior college for my first two years and then moved to a local (in-state tuition) university, I have escaped college with a engineering degree debt free with a career that pays an above average salary. 

    I am currently in a strong enough position to ACTUALLY purchase a property and I completely agree with you that this is abnormal for 22. I see too many of my friends spending thousands of dollars on out of state tuition, room and board, and all the excessive costs including bars, eating out, greek life, etc.. The costs are exponential when compared to affordable junior college and in state tuition and worst of all, a lot of these people that attend these schools HAVE NO INCOME or HAVE HARDLY WORKED either because their parents fund it or they are taking out loans. 

    I think that these poor financial decisions can be traced back to two things: 1. Our education system 2. Parents

    Throughout 17 years of schooling (K-College), I have had one course on personal finance; consumers education in high school.  This class was worthless and the most that I learned was how to write and cash checks which I already had a great understanding of from my mowing business. My entire education career was from the top public school in my area and I find it hard to imagine that many others experienced better financial education. Our current education system does an absolute horrible job in teaching kids the power of debt, interest, and personal financial intelligence. 

    Luckily, I realized this in high-school and forced myself to self educate myself on these topics through books like rich dad poor dad, financial intelligence, and many accredited websites. This is the main reason why I am so passionate about this subject because I see everyday how inadequate the majority of  millennials are in their financial intelligence and personal financial positions. I really wish our education would adopt the mindset of teaching personal finance because although our schools are setting kids up to be doctors, engineers, lawyers, etc, they are also setting them up for an uphill battle at a large disadvantage by limiting their financial  intelligence which allows them to make the poor decisions above. 

    2Reply
  • Steve Vaughan
    Rental Property Investor · East Wenatchee, WA · Member since 2014 · 10k+ posts · 16k+ votes
    9y

     Completely agree, Joe.  Designer clothes, cars, coffees and clubs will keep one working forever.  A rat on a wheel - run, run, run.

    Most of us that have been doing this a little while are coming from a place they didn't want to be anymore.  All of my serious changes were caused by 'I've had it' moments.  Marine Corps infantry?  Don't want that anymore.  Concrete labor?  Cubicle farm with an hour commute, begging the man for time off?  No thanks.  

    Matter of fact, I hated where I was at so much, I moved to a more affordable market, bought a doublewide for cash where lot rent was $240/mo for 5 years while I drove beaters while eating pb&j's and built my portfolio.  

    Nobody scrimps and saves and changes without a strong why. Most peeter out without it.  Mine was freedom from.  Without real experience in crappy situations this why is hard to have.

    Although one of my biggest decisions now is whether to take an afternoon nap or not,  it took work and lots of it.  I agree the struggle part is often glossed over along with detailed reasons why they went broke in '08-12.  'It happened to everyone' isn't cutting it for me.  They lost but rarely really get asked why or how. Good discussion! 

    3Reply
  • Ryan Biankowski
    Investor · Milwaukee, WI · Member since 2016 · 42 posts · 6 votes
    9y

    This thread is great.  Hearing the real stories like this gets me so motivated to continue.  Still in the rags phase but definitely on the verge of breaking through.  I've received $0 from my parents.  I've been on my own since 17 years old.  

    I come from a divorced family, both sides on the very very low side of the middle class.   To say we lived pay check to pay check is an understatement.  Starting working at age 12 and never looked back, was sick of having no money and just have this never ending desire to do something with my life.   I was the kid in high school working 30+ hours a week while my friends didn't have to get a job until post college.  Worked full time in college and randomly fell into a decent YouTube career on the side curating music.   Graduated and found a job right away in Civil Engineering.  Immediately bought a foreclosed home for $155,000 in the neighborhood that I grew up in with 5% down.  I cashed out my entire savings account ($5K) and sold my MacBook that I bought the previous year to do this.   Meanwhile, I've spent the past year and half doing all the rehab work by myself, learning everything I know from YouTube.  I fund it all through my day job and the YouTube hustle.  About 90% of the time that I am awake during my day, I am working on something.  Because of this I am still living comfortably but still pay check to pay check due to all the repairs needed for the flip.  

    The ARV value of my house right now is right around $250,000. I plan to sell next spring when the market peaks, meaning I should profit around $85,000 TAX FREE (after closing etc.) if all goes as planned. Would love to hear your advice on what I should do next. My general plan is buy another foreclosed home to live in with half the profit, then use the other half for a down-payment on a second rehab + use hard money for the rest. What do you guys think?

    4Reply
  • Chris Armstrong
    Realtor · Charleston, SC · Member since 2016 · 229 posts · 159 votes
    9y

    @Dustin Ruff

    So @mike 

    @Mike Sattem was correct when he said its about the hustle. 

    For me, I worked through college doing multiple jobs in food and beverage, parking cars and when I graduated I was (and still am) working as a chemist. I held three jobs for 10 years and saved every penny I had and then saved enough to purchase my first rental property ($35k down payment). No free college, no inheritance, just pure hustle and discipline. 

    Earnings with my jobs were small, but I have multiple jobs so it added up pretty quick. The chemistry job paid 40K per year and I was probably making 25-35K doing the other two jobs (food and bev and parking cars). After paying all my bills (Rent, student loans, car insurance..etc) I was left with 1500-2000$ each month I could save. 

    Now I have 4 rentals and I do not take a single penny from them.....yet. I roll the money into next purchases and principle pay down. I do not work 3 jobs any longer and probably will not unless times get tough again. In a few years, I will have all rentals paid off 100% and then I will start to have money to spend. Until then, discipline and frugality. 

    3Reply
  • Derek Luttrell
    Chicago, IL · Member since 2017 · 231 posts · 124 votes
    9y

    My come-to-Jesus moment was when I was 15 in 2007 and lived through my family losing the amazing 4-bed, 4-bath home that I now know my parents could never afford in the first place.  At that point I officially knew that no one would be paying for my college a mere 3 years later, and my future was on me. 

    Through good grades, test scores countless essays etc in high school, I managed to attain a full, 4-year tuition and housing scholarship to a Big 10 university. I lived in a large scholarship house that still had utility bills of $2000/person/year, and I had to pay for books, so the money I saved up as a golf caddie each summer paid for those expenses. I then worked in a sorority kitchen on campus for free meals, minimum wage and daily face time with about 100 bombshells.

    My first full time job started two weeks after my graduation ceremony, and I made my first rent payment of $837.50 in Chicago with the remainder of my college savings. My base salary 3 years ago was $35,000 in 3rd party logistics sales, and I took it knowing that I had the power to improve that pay through commission over time. I saved $40k in cash in 3 years (while also putting 10% of every paycheck into my 401k) and closed on my first house-hack here in Chicago about a month ago, where my roommates pay 87% of my housing expenses. While hard work is surely involved, this all comes down living within my means. I can scroll through Instagram for 3 minutes and show you how 90% of my mid-20's peers are spending like the world is ending tomorrow.

    3Reply
  • Charles A.Pro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Jacksonville, FL · Member since 2015 · 208 posts · 282 votes
    9y

    It's a very important question.

    And I actually wrote a very recent member blog post on it.

    Enjoy:

    https://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/8290/64353-no-bs-real-estate-investing-a-6-year-diary-with-numbers-and-photos

    2Reply
  • Jason G.Pro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Long Island, NY · Member since 2015 · 434 posts · 495 votes
    9y

    Both my undergraduate and legal education were paid for by my parents. They purchased my first car for me which is the car I still drive today. They also paid for the down payment on my primary residence in 2011. As an attorney I make over $100,000 a year and my girlfriend, who is my partner in purchasing investment properties, also makes over $100,000. However, unlike me, she paid down her undergraduate and graduate school loans almost without any assistance from any outside sources. Since 2011 neither my girlfriend or I have received assistance from anyone. We saved close to $60,000 for the down payments on two investment properties. We purchased our first one in Georgia last month. Since purchasing my primary residence I've been doubling the principal payments every month, so in the six years I've owned it I have built a lot of equity in the property. I'm now in the process of taking out a $100,000 HELOC on it and will use that money towards down payments to purchase several more investment properties, all in the $100,000 to $150,000 range. So I'm definitely not a rags to riches story. I was given my head start as a result of choices made by those in my family that came before me and I am forever grateful for it.

    3Reply
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