Charleston, SC · Member since 2018 · 9 posts · 47 votes
My husband and I discovered BP this summer and are ready to start invest! We have enough capital and are actively searching for deals and running the numbers. It’s exciting!
Anyone else got started at or around 35? Tell me about your journey. Our goal is to live off of our RE investments for retirement.
I owned property before 36 but, don't consider my real estate investing start until 36 years old since I analyze properties now and look at them much differently than when I graduated from college and bought a house at 23.
It took me 13 years of W-2 work to be financially ready and look at buying properties as a business, not as a hobby.
Investing passively in a debenture, syndication, owning multi-families and a few single family houses in great neighborhoods are all part of my long term plan to be FI before 43. Age doesn't matter, it's just a number.
I wish I could like and respond to every comment I've read! I appreciate the responses and they alone are enough of a kick in the pants to get started. Going to look at another property tomorrow. Fingers crossed.
i started when i was 34 i am now 40. I have acquired a few rentals, i have done a few flips, and gained a wealth of knowledge from people in my local rei group and here on this platform. I don't think its ever to late to start investing. I started with the intent on leaving my children something to own and grow. So even if i don't get to see it grow beyond what it is now I have been teaching them the business so they can continue in my footsteps and create generational wealth.
@Danielle McClelland
I am 44, and my story is similar to you and your husband's. I purchased one of the BP books on Audible and have fallen in love with RE. When I am not at work or with my family, I am looking at properties, and reading the forums. I wish you both the best of luck, with your RE investing.
I just turned 36 two days ago. I have closed on a duplex in September and am currently in the process of putting two quadplexes under contract (negotiating purchase price). Never thought that getting into the real estate space would become so addictive once I got over pre conceived apprehensions about entering the space.
Thanks for the support, I often feel late to the party but I can finally focus after kids finished college and weddings. So now Im focused on my goals and retirement plans, its so exciting! Dont give up your goals!!
I didn't have the intestinal fortitude until I was just a few months ago. I'm 37. Its never too late to shoot for your dreams and live out your full potential
Tell me about your funding, What are your product offerings and specialties? I am a general contractor for the last 30 years and am shopping and educating myself on financing. BTW thanks for your post. 65 Is the new 45!! We've got the wisdom and experience.
I'm 62 and I haven't started yet but hope to get started this year. Unfortunately, when I was 54 I had some medical problems and have not walked or worked for almost a 8 years. Before then aI owned my own business and I had a Texas real estate broker license for about 30 years and had been a construction mwnqager for about 30 years. I have been a bigger pockets member for about 5 years and I read about 100 real estate investment books and watched a bunch of YouTube.
@Danielle McClelland
I started at exactly 35 admidst heavy resistance from my wife. I had wanted to start earlier, but had to generate the down payment by myself. I'm not setting the world on fire because my risks had to be super calculated and conservative.
Ten years later, she's still not real supportive but cannot deny the financial impact it is having.
In my opinion, 35 is still very young. Think of all the Americans that don't have any retirement money saved or an emergency account. It's really staggering when you look at the stats.
Dig in and make it happen. You'll do better than you hoped for!
Btw, got my license and am closing on my next property (first as the agent/buyer) tomorrow.
I’ll be the first to say it and deliver the political uncorrectness: Age matters.
Your ability to leverage TIME (when you do not have money) is lost if you start late.
The 25-35 age zone is the money spot for acquisition and where future wealth can actually be secured. And in my opinion, real estate acquisition is one of the last few ways someone with an average income/lifestyle can reach the promised land and actually map it out...unlike pretty much every other investment out there. This is based on the fact that the average American lives till 78-79.
Not saying it’s not worth doing later as a form of forced investment or savings when you have more income.
However, for the average person, it’s much easier to lock money away early in investments rather than finding earned income for investments later on in life. Also, earned incomes have never kept up.
Sure, some will triple/quadruple their earned income, and can invest more aggressively in their 40s, but more likely, the majority will triple or quadruple their family size instead (going from being single, to having a spouse and two kids, on the same earned income...ouch!)
So better to acquire fast, acquire hard, and leverage into places you yoursef would consider living if you absolutely had to.
Worse case, you let someone else pay the mortgages over the next 20-30 yrs. Accelerate payments as you get older and rents go up.
Enjoy your hard earned income and smart investment strategy during quality years of life.
And maybe you get lucky and catch an awesome wave of appreciation and you never have to look back again.
I saw one relative buy their first at 31, “forever home” at 39, and then next rental acquisition was not until 53, followed by 4 more strategic buys during the crash (he had money saved up and equity in their primary from not investing in his 40s). By 60, they had ~$150k/yr passive (pre-tax, after expenses).
I saw another who just wouldn’t stop acquiring properties in his 30s. This included when interest rates were 10-15%! By 65, he managed to have a portfolio that put him in the ultra-high net worth category (~$20-30 million). Real estate was the first step to securing the future trajectory, then the real money started to come in because RE income opened up significant new opportunities that weren’t open to others.
I started when I was 35. I bought Four 4 plexes and today I'm 55 and I am partnered with a small group and we are building 3 projects totaling 806 units and using a hybrid of the syndication model to fund them. Get into a local real-estate investment group and network, keep networking on this site. find out what is out there, what you have the tolerance for risk wise. Take small steps in the direction you choose to go and see if it is what you thought it was or not. Protect you hard earned money. I agree with Jabari Long's advice
@Danielle McClelland I started last year at 46... 1 year later I own 4 Single family homes and I close on my 5th this month. I wish I had started investing in real estate 20 years ago but it’s never too late! Create a plan of action and then jump in and Get in the Game! Good luck! 👊🏽🙏🏽
We bought our first rental when I was 52. We have 3 right now and are about to buy another one. Like so many others have said, I wish I would have started sooner.
Took my time between 41-43 too scared to "lose it all." Started investing at 43 and wish that I hadn't wasted those years scared to start. Even though "then" (or in my 20s) would have been better, "Now" is better than "Later."