Investing Money Markets

Can anybody give some advice on investing in real estate?

Im so eager to begin investing in real estate but i feel like there's things holding me back. I plan on going to a university far from home so that's one. I' young (20) and i have a job but i dont think a bank will finance me. I stay with my parents. I was planning on getting everything settled now so when i do leave for a university i'll be able to be approved for a mortgage on a condo then wait a couple years to build equity give me some advice please

Public Comments

1. Hi, My advice is to save a lot of $. With the market the way it is right now company's aren't lending to anyone unless you have at least a 10% downpayment and can show the income to support the payment. It is not easy to get a loan in this market.
2. Keeping your credit pristine is JOB # 1. That means paying all your bills on time every month without exception. When it comes time to leave school and get a job lenders will be able to see you are a type of person who pays off their debt each month and will happily offer you a loan that you can pay back based upon how much money you receive from your job. In the mean time try to save as much as you can but still enjoy yourself!
3. You can buy a home with no down payment as long as your credit score is high and you are buying at a conforming amount of $417K and under. Otherwise 5% will do. Do pay your bills and keep credit cards at 25% of their limit or less. It is better to have 5 cards at 25% of their limit than one that is almost maxed out.
4. Someone your age needs to develope a tracable history of payments, and have a down payment to buy a home. My advice to do both is to start paying rent to your parents. They then put this money in a savings account for you to use later. You need to pay this every month with a personal check so banks can trace it later. It also needs to be at an amount that is near what you expect to pay for your mortgage. Assume $700 for every 100K of house. After a year or two, you will have a trackable rentalk history, and a sizable chunk for a down payment or closing costs.
5. Beef up your credit score. Beef up your Financial IQ. Beef up your bankroll. How, you might ask? Well, keeping a credit balance of between 10 and 25% of the available balance will do more to raise your credit score then paying it off every month. This allows financial institutions to see you as someone with a long history of paying on time and discipline in spending. If you don't have a Credit Card now, go to your bank and open a Secured Credit Card. Instant approval and bumps up your credit score. Start reading and meeting other investors. Don't put much stock in groups like Nuveau Riche (sp), but there are legit groups of people out there. Read books like Real estate Investing for Dummies, The ABC's of Real estate Investing, Property Management for Dummies. Get a base level of understanding on the topic and find people to discuss it with. You can all learn from each other. Everyone wants to build their available cash, but how do you do it? Well you have a few options: Pull the Maximum student loans that you can every year through college. This willl be some of the cheepest money you'll ever have to repay (lowest interest rate). Also, they are another indicator on your Credit Report. Open a DBA for your Real Estate Investment Company (surely you didn't think to own these all in your name?) Starting the DBA early will allow you to show banks a longer company credit history. Also, as you roll it over to an LLC, you'll again have the credit history from the DBA to add length to your company's credit history. Since you have a DBA, you might as well pay the taxes your self. Go to your job and change the with holdings on your paycheck. Get more of your own money up front, and write off as much as you can.