What can I do with $3,500?

Georgia Real Estate Q&A Discussion Forum

What can I do with $3,500?

Real Estate Agent · Powder Springs, GA · Member since 2016 · 15 posts · 19 votes

I have a real estate photography business, and I save for taxes , and I was thinking about my small amount of savings and possibly putting it to work in the investment arena. I know it's a very small amount, but I was wondering if I could somehow use it as private money, I don't think it's enough to actually use for my own deal. I am planning to go into real estate investing next year, right now I am self-educating. Can anyone recommend a proactive move I can make with $3,500?

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Dustin Rose

Investor · El Dorado Hills, CA · Member since 2014 · 447 posts · 62 votes

Hi Kate. I saw your post about your $3,500 and thought we could connect. One thing you could do is offer your $3,500 to help fund a down payment on a property and receive a Deed of trust recorded against the property. You could ask for $500 in 120 days. Do that 2-3 times over the course of a year and you could earn $1,000 to $1,500 on your $3,500 over the course of a year. I've done that with investors who have small amounts they are looking to invest and they always seem to love the return.

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Wade K.
Investor · Memphis, TN · Member since 2017 · 11 posts · 3 votes
9y
Try crowdfunding real estate such as Fundrise. https://fundrise.com
2 Reply
Mike Flora
Investor · Menifee, CA · Member since 2015 · 534 posts · 216 votes
9y
I am a firefighter/paramedic and me and my co owner business partner started off with about the same amount of money and have done pretty well in real estate investing. First we bought a year subscription to property radar where we got target lists of properties we could send direct mail too with our subscription and then we started sending mail out and wholesaling the deals we got under contract, which helped us get extra money to continue marketing for more deals. We both continued to read, learn and network and now we have five rehabs, 3 rentals and 6 wholesales this year and it started with about the same amount of money your talking about in our savings combined. And we live in Southern California! Tough tough market! USE YOUR MONEY TO MARKET A DEAL TO WHOLESALE OR REHAB TO START AND GROW FROM IT.
7 Reply
Joseph M.
Flipper/Rehabber · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2009 · 1k+ posts · 732 votes
9y
@Kate Kratochvil you mentioned that you are planning to get retire or get out of the real estate photography business and don't want to put money into that business, but what about marketing as a realtor?
Also just curious are you currently spending any on marketing for sellers or buyers right now?
Perhaps you also might come across some deals in your marketing that you could wholesale?
I know nothing about Powder Springs,GA but did a quick search and looks like there are some decent priced homes in the area.
2 Reply
Account Closed
Realtor · Detroit, MI · Member since 2015 · 211 posts · 104 votes
9y
Partner with someone
2 Reply
Ryan Carnahan
Woodinville, WA · Member since 2017 · 6 posts · 5 votes
9y
The fastest way to save money is always to not have any recurring monthly debt looming overhead. If all your debts are paid, your money can really begin to add up then go to work for you. I think it was mentioned once before on this thread, but one option for smaller investing smaller amounts of capital would be real estate crowdfunding platforms; they allow you to invest smaller amounts of capital (generally $5,000+, but I'm sure you could do a little research and find smaller entry capital) into deals for a set percentage return (8%-15%).
2 Reply
Ian WalshBusiness Member
Lender · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
9y
Don't worry about the money you do or don't have when starting. If you learn to make it with out using your own money, you will know what to do with money when you do have it. Learn your market and learn to market.
3 Reply
Rachel H.
San Antonio, TX · Member since 2009 · 3k+ posts · 1k+ votes
9y
@Kate Kratochvil You may want to just put it away while you weigh your options. If you're low on cash, you may want to add it to your emergency fund just in case anything happens in the future. Good luck!
0 Reply
Ian IppolitoBusiness Member
Investor · Tampa, FL · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
9y
As others said, if that's all the extra cash you have, then you should be saving it in case of an emergency or losing your job, etc..
If you already have an adequate cash reserve, then one option is to put it into crowdfunding. The advantage there is that it can be spread over numerous properties which give you more diversification then just trying to put it in a single property. Also, you get professional management.
There are currently about 11 or 12 different options for nonaccredited investors. They range from debt to equity, residential to office, etc..
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5 Reply
Lawrence Taylor
Real Estate Professional · Freeport, NY · Member since 2015 · 15 posts · 4 votes
9y
Hey Kate, I have a similar amount to invest so I understand where you're coming from. I'm in no position to give advice but what I did was found a real estate investing professional in my area and instead of using my own dollars to market I work for him for free in my spare time learning the business. I also drive for dollars and any leads I have I bring to him just so I'm not worried about using my money yet(saving as much as I can for now). If that money is somehow burning a hole in your pocket then you can set up a small marketing campaign and use say $500 - $600 per month on letters or post cards for distressed properties then wholesale them. Also see if there any properties with tax liens that you can acquire. I know its really basic stuff but I'm still learning the business also. Congratulations and good luck.
2 Reply
Account Closed
Investor · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 688 votes
9y
Lottery tickets
0 Reply
Joseph Abbott
Tulsa, OK · Member since 2016 · 119 posts · 23 votes
9y
Hello Kate. You could use that money towards a secured credit score to increase your credit score depending on what it is now. You could also use it to invest in stocks if that’s you’re interest.
0 Reply
Kevin Dehesa
Investor · BAY AREA · Member since 2017 · 81 posts · 21 votes
9y
i think you should invest in a drone and take your pictures and videos to another level
0 Reply
Nathanial Dunne
Real Estate Investor & Asset Analyst · Iola, KS · Member since 2014 · 33 posts · 6 votes
9y
Hi Kate, there are plenty of great suggestions in the thread already as to what you can do with the $3500, so I'll suggest something different. Invest it in yourself. You mentioned that you're going into full-time investing. You could use the funds to set up your investing company and build face to face relationships with people you'll need for your investing business. Having been in the real estate industry you probably know a lot of investors and industry professionals already, but do they know you're going to be investing? Spread the word, the opportunities will present themselves. You'll have your finger on the pulse once the time comes to go full-time
All the best!
1 Reply
Kate Kratochvil
OP
Real Estate Agent · Powder Springs, GA · Member since 2016 · 15 posts · 19 votes
9y
I'm new to this forum, so I don't know how to answer people directly. So.. Kevin, I have a drone and a 3D Matterport scanner. Nathanial, that is something to think about, thank you! Joseph, my credit is great, and stocks are okay, but not what works for my plans. Lawrence, thank you for the good advice.
0 Reply
Lee RipmaPro Member
Rental Property Investor · Prairie Village, KS · Member since 2015 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
9y
One use of the money would be driving for dollars and then doing a direct mail and/or door knocking campaign to find wholesale or fix and flip deals. If you can find good enough deals you'll be able to use hard money or private money to fund the fix and flips entirely. If that's not what you're after you could use it to market your services as a realtor. Then for every deal you'll be able to either sell retail, wholesale, or fix and flip!
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Jackson Wu
Investor · Monrovia, CA · Member since 2015 · 48 posts · 33 votes
9y
Roth IRA would be one of the best long term options. If you want to do something in the real estate realm, I would consider Peerstreet. They do crowd funded hard money lending and the minimum investment is only 1,000. This platform gives you the opportunity to look at a lot of real estate deals and analyse them. So you can learn what a good deal looks like for 1,000 investment.
3 Reply
Steve Vaughan
Rental Property Investor · East Wenatchee, WA · Member since 2014 · 10k+ posts · 16k+ votes
9y
I agree that lending should be done inside an IRA, but this discussion is how to 'invest' short-term cash otherwise sitting idle until April. Retirement plans do not fit this profile.
Anyway- I would drum up a deal. Create door hangers for vacants, hire a VA to comb craigslist & tax rolls & recorded docs for delinquents, divorces, lis pendens, evictions, etc. Find yourself a motivated seller and wholesale, wholetail, fix and flip, etc. That's where the money and education is at.
Reach back into your 15 years of being a realtor and go old school on farming, but your customer or target is now a distressed owner, not a pretty house one. Good luck @Kate Kratochvil
2 Reply
Tim Porsche
Investor · Denver, PA · Member since 2015 · 193 posts · 55 votes
9y
I would consider putting it into a good, well established REIT fund. Vanguard has a good REIT index fund I've seen highly recommended by people who know a lot more about REITs than I do. Putting it in an index fund like that will help you diversify and add stability\safety. Average returns seem to be in the 8 - 12% range. REITs are fairly liquid from what I understand.
2 Reply
Thomas S.
Member since 2016 · 13k+ posts · 12k+ votes
9y
@Kate Kratochvil
"Some of you seem to have made a lot of assumptions about me"
The reason for that is because you have come on here asking a very involved in-depth question regarding providing financial advice with out providing any more than a bare bones background.
If you asked the same question of a financial advisor you would need to fill out a detailed background sheet to allow him/her to be able to give sound advice based on your personal situation. Since we do not have the benefit of that information we will give advice usually supported by our assumptions of your personal situation. The advice will be all over the map and you must take from it what you can based on assumptions associated with that advice that is the closest to your personal situation. As a example you have now implied that you and your husband have a good solid income. That begs the question as to why you only have $3500. See my point ?
You can not expect reliable advice from professionals without us making assumptions if you are not forthcoming with necessary details. We simply do not have a crystal ball and financial advice is extremely complicated. You may as well ask "how long is a string".
You also need to keep in mind the opinions of strangers are nothing more than ideas and have no real value until you determine if they apply to your personal situation and goals.
2 Reply
Amy Good
Real Estate Professional · Moore, SC · Member since 2015 · 47 posts · 11 votes
9y
@Kate Kratochvil. I agree with you about the assumptions. Sent you an inbox email. @Jake Recz I am right there with you and I am loving it!! No better way to watch my investment in crypto rise!
1 Reply
Anthony Colonnetta
Investor · Houston, TX · Member since 2015 · 39 posts · 8 votes
9y
Ik this is off topic but I am interested in RE photography. Would you recommend for a college student to get in to the real estate photography business?
0 Reply
Kate Kratochvil
OP
Real Estate Agent · Powder Springs, GA · Member since 2016 · 15 posts · 19 votes
9y
@Thomas S, I actually never said that's all the money we had, I said that was my tax savings. I have not done a good job saving for taxes and I want to make that amount grow.
0 Reply
Gay Lloyd
Real Estate Investor · Ogden, UT · Member since 2014 · 160 posts · 81 votes
9y
I like @Dustin Rose's thinking on this. We make loans to fix and flip investors for their projects and do not have a minimum investment amount currently for our money partners. They can double or even triple the return they were getting on their money where it was previously sitting. These are short term 6-12 month investments, but I love Dustins idea of specifically being in on the down payment too. Food for thought for me.
1 Reply
Kate Kratochvil
OP
Real Estate Agent · Powder Springs, GA · Member since 2016 · 15 posts · 19 votes
9y
Anthony, the real estate photography business has become incredibly oversaturated with photographers. I'm hearing that from colleagues all over the country. it's also a dying profession at the same time, as cell phones are taking better and better photos and videos.
1 Reply
Brock Lile
Castle Rock, WA · Member since 2016 · 58 posts · 23 votes
9y
A Matterport VR camera is $4,000 last time I looked. Could be a great investment for your business and additional revenue.
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