How much $$$ did you have when you started investing?

Property Manager · Charlotte, NC · Member since 2022 · 152 posts · 118 votes

My husband is convinced we have to be making $200k + a year before we can start investing. I KNOW that isn't the case. I have met a few that started with very little and built their empire over time.

When you first started investing, how much did you have in your pocket? How much in the bank? Would love to hear from you!

806-685-1818

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Sergey A. Petrov

Real Estate Consultant · Seattle, WA · Member since 2022 · 1k+ posts · 784 votes

I had zero or maybe even negative. Barely out of college, with a newborn, wife unemployed. Bought a condo using an FHA loan. It needed some work, water heater blew a week after closing. I remember getting my final estimated settlement statement the day before closing and realizing i was twenty or something bucks short for that due from borrower line item. That $20 was stressful!

Lived in and worked on the condo in the evenings and on the weekends, repainted, replaced flooring, appliances, some other outdated fixtures, sold it two years later with a gain nearly equivalent to my gross W2 earnings at the time. That was 20 some years ago

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Maranda TuckerPro Member
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Property Manager · Charlotte, NC · Member since 2022 · 152 posts · 118 votes
4y
Quote from @Joe Garretson:

Quote from @Nicholas L.:

@Maranda Tucker
salary / income isn't really the right way to think about this... were you just curious what other BPers make or did you really want the community's reaction?
you could be making $500K a year with 0 in the bank, and that would not be a good financial position to be in; conversely you could make very little but have access to lots of savings
so... assuming this is a serious question... i'll ask 2 of my own:
do you and your husband own a primary yet?
do you have any savings?

Interesting perspective on income. You're right, we've all met and/or know people who are "rich" because they drive a fancy car, live in a big house and identify as a VP of this or Director of that at work. We also know those people can't rub two nickels together... I'm the poor one of my friends with a 17 year old Honda Accord, a 9 year old Ford Explorer and no debt beyond our mortgage.
My wife and I own our primary residence; have approximately $300k in equity, $15k set aside at the moment with an additional $1300/month added for strictly RE investing. We've got a six month emergency fund sitting in cash separate of this.
We're on the path to buying our first investment property but disagreeing on what that path is. We have agreed on a timeline that we buy before I hit 50 (have just under 4 years until then).
The biggest issue: she's risk averse, I'm ready to buy the first thing I see.

How do you foresee overcoming her risk aversion? I am considering writing a proposal for my husband... Sounds silly, but sometimes he need to see the potential via numbers.
806-685-1818
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Mordy Chaimovitz
Investor · Chicago · Member since 2022 · 128 posts · 85 votes
4y
Thank you! And for all of us newbies out there. This was my 1st deal. Just found out about this awesome thing called Real Estate investing in January of this year.

Your turn.

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Mordy Chaimovitz
Investor · Chicago · Member since 2022 · 128 posts · 85 votes
4y
Quote from @Mordy Chaimovitz:
Thank you! And for all of us newbies out there. This was my 1st deal. Just found out about this awesome thing called Real Estate investing in January of this year.

Your turn.

Sorry. Somehow this post wound up in the wrong place!
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Joe Garretson
Investor · Castle Rock, CO · Member since 2021 · 79 posts · 104 votes
4y
Quote from @Maranda Tucker:

Quote from @Joe Garretson:

Quote from @Nicholas L.:

@Maranda Tucker
salary / income isn't really the right way to think about this... were you just curious what other BPers make or did you really want the community's reaction?
you could be making $500K a year with 0 in the bank, and that would not be a good financial position to be in; conversely you could make very little but have access to lots of savings
so... assuming this is a serious question... i'll ask 2 of my own:
do you and your husband own a primary yet?
do you have any savings?

Interesting perspective on income. You're right, we've all met and/or know people who are "rich" because they drive a fancy car, live in a big house and identify as a VP of this or Director of that at work. We also know those people can't rub two nickels together... I'm the poor one of my friends with a 17 year old Honda Accord, a 9 year old Ford Explorer and no debt beyond our mortgage.
My wife and I own our primary residence; have approximately $300k in equity, $15k set aside at the moment with an additional $1300/month added for strictly RE investing. We've got a six month emergency fund sitting in cash separate of this.
We're on the path to buying our first investment property but disagreeing on what that path is. We have agreed on a timeline that we buy before I hit 50 (have just under 4 years until then).
The biggest issue: she's risk averse, I'm ready to buy the first thing I see.

How do you foresee overcoming her risk aversion? I am considering writing a proposal for my husband... Sounds silly, but sometimes he need to see the potential via numbers.

We're about to head out for an afternoon happy hour and I've already prepped her about the discussion. One thing I'm going to have is a print out from the rental property calc here on BP with a property I've been analyzing and then just straight numbers. The numbers don't lie. And the numbers tie into our bigger goals 6-8 years down the road in terms of what we want to do. So, it's really on me to present a well thought out case of start today, start small, and make calculated decisions based on numbers.
I'll let you know how it goes!
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Isaiah Gabaldon
Contractor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2022 · 16 posts · 7 votes
4y
@Maranda Tucker I had $9,000 in the bank in 2003. I put down 3% on a 100k house and paid half closing cost. Rented out rooms to cousins. Paid it off in 5 years. I probably made 40k a year in construction as an apprentice. I have 5 houses now. A loan on one and I bearly clear 100k in construction but my rentals will bring in an additional 11k a month.
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Chris SeveneyBusiness Member
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Investor · VA · Member since 2015 · 21k+ posts · 19k+ votes
4y
@Maranda Tucker
When we did real estate we took a LOC of $125k from our house and did BRRR for several properties then when I started in note investing I had approx $50k.
Notes was in 2016 and we now are raising $75M for our fund. So with experience you can grow quickly
7e investments53 Reviews
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John MorganPro Member
Rental Property Investor · Grand Prairie, TX · Member since 2018 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
4y
I started 7 years ago with 30k in savings and had a household income of 90k. I've bought 2 SFH a year on average and now have 16 properties that cash flow me 13k/month net. I would try and save up 30-50k to get started. And once you get going, try and put all your RE passive income back into RE if you want to scale up a little and make more money. If you can survive off your W2, I highly recommend reinvesting 100% of your earnings back into RE. That's what I've done and things sort of snow balled after awhile with my base hits. Good luck.
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Mordy Chaimovitz
Investor · Chicago · Member since 2022 · 128 posts · 85 votes
4y
Quote from @Maranda Tucker:

Quote from @Mordy Chaimovitz:

Guess what! It doesn't matter if you are making a million dollars a day!
DONT USE IT!
Find a good deal and use OPM (other people's money) to finance your deals! Partner up with other people who want to invest passivly in your deal. Your return on investment is infinity! You didn't put down a penny!
but if you must know. I just bought 2 single family homes having no money in savings. Living paycheck to paycheck. I got a money partner that liked the deal and we are going 50/50. Both on the cash flow and the eventual equity from the sale
you can make less them minimum wage and invest in RE. And that is one of the many reasons I 💚 Real estate!
so get a move on and buy something already!

I couldn't agree more!! 2 SFH with no money in savings? That is awesome.
Thank you. And if I might add this was my 1st deal.
I would encourage anybody that is using the excuse of "not having money" to invest in real estate to change that to "not having enough knowledge"

Learn as much as you can. Then gather your courage and make a move. Incredible things are possible.

good luck!

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Walter Daly
Denver · Member since 2022 · 6 posts · 2 votes
4y
@Joe Garretson any updates on how these convos/meetings went?
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