Recent College Grad

[Avni Choksi]

Hello

I graduated college in june 2013 landed a job in a rotational program ( i move every 8 months to a different location for 2 years to understand various aspects of the business)

I currently have no debt except for minor credit card bills nor do I have a dependent and have a decent credit score

I was wondering if someone could provide some guidance on how to properly invest my savings...i was trying to look into real estate except i am unsure because I currently move every 8 months until july 2015.

Thanks

Avni

[Joel Owens]

Amount you have to start with??

[Avni Choksi]

i currently have 20k in my savings account, i am not quite sure how comfortable i am to use all of it

[Danny Day]

How much time to do you have to invest in real estate?

Time is money after all - the more time you can put into the investment, usually the greater reward you should have.

Since you move every 8 months, maybe something passive would work best. If you've got $20k in savings, I would work on building that up while building (what I think) is the most important skill in RE investing -- sourcing your own deals.

Lots of info on BP on sourcing your own deals. Search through and figure out how to do this.. if you are not able to find what works for you, wholesale it to another investor and keep building that savings account.

When the right deal falls in your lap, jump on it and start cash flowing.

More 'hands on' and time consuming approach - rehab / selling homes.

Either way - you're in the right place to learn!

D

[Jean Bolger]

Moving around is a great opportunity to explore different markets (in real life instead of via google!). I'd agree with you that you'd want to hold on to a good part of that 20k as an emergency/backup fund. I would suggest saving as much as you can and learning as much as you can about analyzing properties over the next year. If you see a property at one of your postings than seems like a super deal, then post about it here and get some advice/feedback. Do you know where you're going to end up after the moving around ends?

[Avni Choksi]

Danny - Thank for the information , I will start reading up about sourcing your own deals

Jean - No unfortunately I will not know where I end up until May 2015, I am not even sure where my next rotation will be at the moment

My current rotation is in Northeast Philadelphia

[Jean Bolger]

Well, for example: Philadelphia (and surrounds) seems to me to be a complicated market. Far too complicated for me to understand well from afar. So, although I have started investing out of state, I am going to stick to a few smaller cities that are less..complicated. But if I had a few months to spend there, I'd be exploring the possibilities. Getting to know the neighborhoods and talking to realtors and investors. Philadelphia certainly has some cheap houses, is a good rental market, but... some of the areas are dodgy, and are probably never coming back up. Other areas may be slightly dodgy but poised for rapid growth. Others might be nice, solid working class areas that have maintained their appeal. The latter two might be places you would choose to invest at some point in the future. Practice running the numbers on a of actual properties before you jump in and buy something!!

The beauty of your situation is that you can compare a few places during your 'travels' before you make any final plans. You may end up settled a few states away, in an area that is not a good one for investing. But you've already made connections in (for example) Philadelphia- so you'll know what you want to buy and who you want to work with.

If this sounds like fun to you (exploring neighborhoods and doing analysis on imaginary deal) then you're probably cut out to be a real estate investor, lol!

[Brandon Cao]

@Avni Choksi have you considered investing in Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT) until you settle down into an area? Might be a good way to get some exposure to real estate market, without being tied down to a specific area. This might be a good alternative for your investment figure and your job rotation.

[Dmitriy Fomichenko]

Welcome to BP community @Avni Choksi It is a great place to meet new friends and learn about various aspects of real estate and more.

Wishing you the best!

[Brandon Eleazer]

@Avni Choksi

Have you thought about finding an owner financed property? That could be less out-of-pocket required.

[Dave Visaya]

Hey @Avni Choksi Here are some good places to start:

http://www.biggerpockets.com/meet- find and connect with other BP members that are in your area.

http://www.biggerpockets.com/alerts - Set up keyword alerts to be notified of the topics that interest you.

And, of course the

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums - ask any question about real estate!

See you around!

[Brandon Turner]

Hey @Avni Choksi Welcome! Definitely start jumping into the community here! Be sure to read through The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Real Estate Investing to help you get started.

Finally -be sure to setup some keyword alerts - especially for "Jamison" so you can jump into local conversations.

See you around the forums!