hi guys, i just discovered this place today, but it seems to be a generally knowledgeable and intelligent community, so i wasted no time in joining and diving right in.
i just turned 21 years old, and i’m from Los Angeles. i’m currently attending a top 25 university, but for a vast array of reasons i decided on a liberal arts degree that will be essentially useless once i graduate. i’ve known for a number of years, however, that i’ve always wanted to have a career in real estate investing, whether that be development (either commercial or residential), or simply investing in multifamily complexes that will eventually hopefully end up in creating an absurdly profitable cash flow.
i’m sure people come on here with this exact type of situation all the time, but mine may be different in the sense that i will have a relatively substantial amount of funds with which to work upon graduation. i will have about $100k in liquid funds and i will also be given control of a completely paid-off apartment that was purchased for 305k two years ago when I started school.
so, taking all these things into consideration, i really don’t know what to do. do i sell the apartment immediately and start buying up single family homes, or duplexes, or go straight to apartment buildings, or what? do i stay in the apartment and just start investing with my 100k? i am looking to make this a career and i expect to be very wealthy at an early age (i know i’ve been given an incredibly generous head start and i needn’t waste it).
i’m still about two years away from actualizing any plans, but it’s never too early to start theorizing and absorbing all the information i possibly can. thanks in advance to any and all who can help me out with this.
You do understand that it is not too late to start taking some classes that will be more useful to you? I suggest that you add some business classes, economics, and accounting.
It’s hard to be a real estate billionaire if you have zero understanding of business and how money works.
For one thing, asking other people what to do with your money because you have no idea is a very good way to lose it. Figure out how it works before you start throwing money around. Nobody will take better care of your money than you do, and if you don’t understand what your “advisers” are doing, they are very likely going to transfer your funds from your pocket to theirs.
I agree 100% with Tatertot. I highly encourage you to at least take business-related electives if nothing else.
If I were you I would spend a few grand on getting trained how to do the real estate business properly. PLEASE don’t just go buying houses or God knows commercial property not knowing what you’re doing. You have to be able to recognize the difference between a deal and a dud…it’s not hard once you know what you’re doing but you absolutely MUST know what you’re doing. You can learn in the real world with no training, but as Tatertot said you’ll probably get creamed…trust me, education is much cheaper than ignorance, and you don’t know what you don’t know.
Specifically, given your current situation I personally would keep the apartment and live there rent-free (lower overhead). You already have plenty enough capital to get started with residential (low risk) deals. With $100k in capital you could even start out doing commercial deals and/or land development right away (BIG hits, but potentially higher risk).
Again, know what you’re doing first…get trained!
So the short answer is get trained. I’d get trained in both if I were you, then you’ll have the knowledge to understand what is what.
I’m going to add that just about everything you need to know to be a real estate investor is on this web site. So start reading.
If you read and understand the information on this website, then all you still need to learn is the cost of repairs in your area and who can be trusted to do them, and what your local real estate values are.
What you do with your apartment depends upon where you want to live. I suggest that you pick an area and centralize your investments close enough that you can keep an eye on them. Investing out of your area isn’t for beginners.