If you were in my spot today — asset-rich but income-light — would you still pull some equity to get started, or hold tight until rates ease up?

Over time it can, but you need a job to get a mortgage to buy a rental and most rentals will not make you rich quick.

As you learned, and likely many others, real estate will have its booms and busts, but if you are investing to get rich quick, well... you can only do that with a lot of risk. 

Im sure a portion provide actual, tangible value, but a large portion are predatory scams that peddle hope and get rich quick promises via social media.

As a young person starting out I like, Set for Life, Simple Path to Wealth, Rich Dad Poor Dad, Die with Zero, and Small & Mighty Real Estate Investor just to name a few to get started with.If you ever have specific questions or would like to talk more about investing, real estate, or anything else let me know.

I have made some great friendships and contacts through Bigger Pockets and the best part is that the cost is so minimal compared to the myriad of get rich quick internet guru packages, one can't go wrong here. 

Keep owner financing in your back pocket if a seller is equity‑rich and rate/terms beat the bank; private money is fine for short rehab gaps but comes pricier, so only if numbers still cash flow with reserves.

Real Estate Investing can be very lucrative, but it is not a get rich quick scheme (at least for the vast majority of people).

Sellers received 92.1% of their list price in Austin, up from 91.3% last year, while metro sellers averaged 92.0%, compared to 92.4% in 2024.Overall, the October data reflects a stable and opportunity-rich Austin-area housing market, with seasonal slowing in sales activity, rising inventory, and consistent pricing trends as the market transitions toward year-end.Here are the October 2025 stats for Austin and the greater metro:I’m now also sharing leasing stats in my monthly updates.

We had millions of vacant homes nobody needed (2025: we are 3-5 million homes short) and nobody had equity, forcing foclosure sales (2025: about 40% of all homes have no mortgage, most of the rest is equity rich, very few do not have enough equity to be threatened by foclosure)If I have my histroy right 1989 was mostly a commercial real estate recession: early 1980's tax code allowed w2 income to get wiped off by passive real estate losses causing a missive overbuilding of strip malls, office space and apartments to generate losses for high income earners.