New Investor Looking to House Hack
Hi everyone! I am an 18 year old aspiring investor looking to house hack by 21. I have followed lots of BiggerPockets advice (working a W-2, building my credit, reading every book out there + listening to all newbie podcasts) but feel like I am stuck. I will not be able to invest and start my first house hack for two years. In that time span I would like to build up my network and team to start investing with, but do not know where to start. I currently live in Kansas City and will be moving to New Orleans in August to start my freshman year at Tulane University. If anyone has some advice on networking within NOLA, it would be a huge help!
Thanks
@Forrest Jacobs that is great you are making these moves already. Are you planning on investing in New Orleans area or back in Kansas City? The highest barrier to entry for you will be getting a loan. You are making the right moves in having a W2, but that might get harder as a full-time student at Tulane. I would suggest that you make the rounds at the local real estate agencies and see if you can get a job as an admin. You will be able to keep a W2 and also be exposed to real estate, basically a 2 for 1 deal! Start building up a relationship with a small local bank. With smaller institutions, you will have a better chance of getting better service if you have funds already with them. Get on to meetup.com and look for local real estate meetups. Make yourself valuable to the host and help with signups, etc. Over a 2 year period if you are consistently attending you will eventually become a "regular" and a person that newbies will gravitate towards. Just keep things in perspective, you are really young so you have a ton of time to make it big. Don't get discouraged if things don't move as fast as you feel they should.
Good luck!
-Arlen
@Arlen Chou wow this is great advice. I will be planning on investing in New Orleans. As a student, I do not think I will have time to keep a W-2 job, but will definitely try to squeeze in time to make my rounds to local real estate agencies and banks. I get very caught up in thinking towards the future so putting everything back into perspective every once in awhile is nice. Thanks again!
#4 Medium-Term Rentals Contributor
- Lender
- Youngstown, OH
- 2,354
- Votes |
- 2,845
- Posts
#4 Medium-Term Rentals Contributor
- Lender
- Youngstown, OH
Use Facebook, meetup.com, and BiggerPockets to find networking events.
@Forrest Jacobs 1) get/ keep your financial position intact 2) use at least 3 forms of rev credit and pay them off or on time ( as many lenders / loan programs will require solid credit history and a min of 3 trade accounts with over 12 month history 3) get soem sort of income / employment in place and try to maintain it 4) find a lender willing to help explain what a pre approval process looks like and maybe even take you through this process so that you can learn and undertand it ...best of luck
@Nicole Heasley Beitenman Thank you! Will do.
@Dave Skow Thank you for the insight! Looking into the pre approval process is something that many people do not focus on, but it has great importance. I will do my best to learn this process. Thanks again
Hey @Forrest Jacobs
Congrats on your ambition!
You should check out the book I wrote (published by Bigger Pockets) as it's perfect for you: First to a Million.
In addition, DM me if you are interested in an online community of young, like-minded individuals.
Best of luck to you! Dan
You shouldn't feel stuck, it sounds to me like you are making great progress and for an 18 year old you are already well ahead of your peers. There are some good meetups to start attending when you get to New Orleans, see below for a couple that I regularly go to...
- NOREIA is a paid meeting and has national speakers every month along with basic and advanced meetups. I am a member and think it is good
- Westbank Real Estate Investors is a monthly meetup in Gretna. It is free and has local investors interviewed podcast style along with networking opportunities, Its on the second Thursday of the month. Look them up on Facebook to connect (I help run this group)
- Northshore REIA is a free meetup in Covington on the 2nd Tuesday of every month. They have a combination of local speakers and national experts. This is a quality meetup that I try to go to whenever I can. Look them up on Facebook,
Theses are the main ones I go to but I am sure you will find others.
@Stephen Keighery Thank you, I will for sure check these out!
Hey Forrest, I am a meetup host and active investor in New Orleans. I run the one on the Northshore (Covington) that Steve mentioned above. I want to connect you with a guy on my team who is 20 and owns three properties already. He started attending my local meetup at age 17. One big thing I am working on with him right now (he is very ambitious like you) is the learn how to buy without using banks or credit. IE - OPM (Other People's Money) or creative financing. His name is Cole Frechou. Message me and I can send you his email so you can chat with him. One of the main ways he has started has been with House Hacking. I have done a good bit of deals in the NOLA area over the years. If I was just getting started, I would learn something called Master Leasing (or sometimes referred to as a Sandwich Lease) and build up cashflow with that. Once you have adequate reserves, then I'd recommend doing Master Lease Options where you could then buy as well. Don't always have to own to control the cashflow. Just some thoughts. Dave Tilney is one of my favorite speakers on the subject of Master Leasing. Just some thoughts here. I want to encourage you along in your journey. There is a triangle - top is money, bottom left is time, bottom right is knowledge. Whichever you find yourself lacking, learn to leverage the ones you have to compensate for what you don't. IE - if the money part is difficult, leverage your time and knowledge to overcome it. Hope this helps! Cheering you on! When you get in town, feel free to reach out. Happy to help however I can. I am often at the meetups Steve mentioned. I attend most in our area frequently.
Courtney, David Tilney is a mentor for me as well. Glad to hear you are master leasing in NOLA!
Hey Forrest --real state is hella insane in NOLA, but you can find some good deals in the suburbs - I live in Chalmette and have two duplexes and house hack a single family house. Metairie has some good deals too. In the city, if you're ANYwhere near Tulane, the property values are nuts. I know someone with a rental near Tulane (and he works at Tulane) if you're not staying on campus for the first year -- the existing tenant leaves end-June. I can send you the post if interested.
Happy to talk shop if we ever meet.
-Mike