Ten-thousand dollars is not much. But it does not mean you don’t have options. It means you’ll need to put in a lot more sweat equity to stretch those $10,000. You definitely need more towards the end of whatever you start but the most important action you take is to START.
Real estate has many of the benefits of wealth creation. Here’s a quick scenario: buy a beat-down, undervalued property that’s selling for much less than what you have. There are many properties here on this site that sell for much less than $10,000.
https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/departments/sldc/real-estate/lra-owned-property-search.cfm?nbrhd=All&Usagen=All&ByNbrhd=Search+By+Neighborhood
Before you buy, start reading books and online courses on how to do plumbing, tile/bathroom restoration, electrical work, carpentry, painting, flooring, masonry, etc. .. and if possible welding. Being an entrepreneur and financially successful requires a lot of knowledge to avoid digging yourself into a financial hole you can’t get out of. With refurbishing a multiunit apartment, you don’t have to be an expert but get familiar with how things are done and get your hands dirty.
Before you reach the end of refurbishing the building, start reading books on how to be a landlord and manage your properties like a business- not a passive investment (not yet at least). Your real estate investments will not be passive until you’ve owned enough to hire a professional property manager. You alone will know when that is since it is a subjective matter based on your necessities to live or retire.
Once you refurbish it, you rent it out for about $550 to $750 per unit. There are many examples on this site that are multi-units. Those are the bread and butter of most real estate investors. You can start out with a duplex that is probably about 2 to 3 bedrooms per unit which is a nice size that is in demand. Once you complete this whole process from start to finish, you do it again.
If you start young, you have the best chances of retiring early that is if you get really busy and you’re determined. The later you start, the harder it is for multiple reasons (family commitments, bills, demanding job or career, etc). You may be able to retire in your 40s. Believe me, you’ll appreciate greatly that you’ll be able to retire at that age. Though it may seem like a million years from now, it is not. It happens in an instant. And in your 40’s, you’re still strong and healthy enough to do all kinds of crazy stuff just as in your 20’s (travel the world, etc.).
My only regret was not starting earlier. I believe this is most entrepreneur’s regret once they reached a level of success. And another very important discipline is to never stop learning how to invest, how to create value worth fulfilling people’s needs, create businesses ran by business systems, and read books on successful business people including biographies (Rockefeller, Sam Walton, etc.)
