What to do when you have 0 money!?!

Realtor · San Jose, CA · Member since 2019 · 23 posts · 12 votes

See my first post for more about my goals! But...Simply put, what would/have you do or done if you were starting out with what you're currently doing now with NOTHING! Could you do it, what would you need to do what youre doing now and how would you do it!?

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Russell BrazilBusiness Member

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Real Estate Agent · Washington, D.C. · Member since 2012 · 17k+ posts · 30k+ votes

16 years ago (ugh Im getting old) I was $100k in the hole after finishing school, having credit card debt, a car loan and crappy credit. Im in a much better position now. This was my path.

1) Learn to attack my debt

2) Became obsessive with personal finance. (I lived in a $400 a month studio in a basement in the ghetto, then when I moved to DC my rent was $500 living w 3 roommates)

3) Focused on growing my career. Most people overlook this. I made $30k out of college. Every 4 years or so Ive about doubled that, and while Im not doubling anymore, Im still focused on growing it a good percentage. NownIm focused on 25-30% growth. (Doubling my income now is much harder at the higher incomes)

4) Picked up a side job (real estate agent used to be my part time job)

5) As my debt shrank, learned to invest in stocks and save.

6) Savings exploded once my debt was gone

7) Kept living frugally and funneling all my new savings (and my earnings continued to grow too) into investing

8) Then finally started investing in real estate.

9) When I built my rental portfolio enough, then became a full time investor and agent. (Honestly I should have done this sooner, but I was scared of not having a paycheck every 2 weeks)

Real estate investing shouldnt nessecarily be step 1. Learning to save, growing your income so you can save, learning to invest all should come before real estate.

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MD · Member since 2018 · 195 posts · 53 votes
7y
I was contemplating getting into RE business for over a decade. Last few months I finally decided to learn as much as I could about it and take an action. Initially I had an assumption that getting funds is the most difficult thing. Amazingly, it's not. As I found out lately, the main thing in real estate is finding deals.
Find great deals and you can start with wholesaling. You don't need a license to do wholesaling and you don't have to have cash to put it under contract.
Show ability to find great deals, and you may have investors willing to back you up as partners in your projects.
You can also borrow money from friends and relatives.
I have read all the advise about being frugal and what not, but I don't know why anyone would have to be told and/or read a book about saving the money they already make. I don't have to read a book or listen to anybody to know something as incredibly simple and basic as managing my personal finances and deciding how much of my disposable income I will spend or save :) I seriously doubt anyone who needs to read a book (or be told by others) about saving their own disposable income has enough of what it takes to put their shirt and pants on in the morning. :)
So, back to what I said in the beginning: your main focus should be getting great deals, finding ways to get great deals and once again finding great deals.
If I knew how to get great deals I would earn 6 figure income by the end of 2019 and seven figures by the end of the next. No matter what hole I was in right now, how much money I was earning and what I had on my bank account today. IMHO, nothing is more important in this business than finding deals.
Good luck!
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