Hello! New Investor from San Diego

[RPistilli]

Hey everyone,

I have been reading through this forum for a few months now and felt it was time I introduced myself. My name is Ray Pistilli and I am a current real estate major at San Diego State University. I am hoping to get into residential investing and work my way into the bigger deals which would probably be apartments/condo's. I am 24 years old, born and raised in Los Angeles. I moved to San Diego over the summer but have been visiting San Diego monthly since 2002.
My goals for my career are to begin in residential investing to just build enough capital to keep going with new investments and we'll see where it goes from there. I am not looking to become a millionaire and drive a Bentley like many people I have come across. I just want the freedom to run my own business and take my life where I want it to go (to the extent that is feasable).

To start off with where I am coming from I must first admit that I am concerned about the 'barriers to entry' to investing. First off, I am a college student, enough said lol. I don't have a lot of money for down payments and I am concerned that my income would not be sufficient enough to qualify for any loans. Has anyone been in my situation? I would love to recieve advice from anyone who has been in my situation or from anyone who knows the best ways to get things rolling. I look forward to chatting with many of you about real estate investing and many other topics related to the industry. Thanks for reading my thread!

Ray Pistilli

[donrock]

RPistilli,

I have some good news for you! You don't need much money to invest in real estate. By using lease with option to purchase investing you can tie up a property for 2 or 3 years while either living in it or leasing it to someone else for very little money.
During that time you can fix it up, save for a down payment, work on your credit, etc. depending on your long range plan.
During the time you have an option to buy it you can sell your option for a profit or trade.
If you don't have any money at all ( you normally need a little bit for the option fee) you can find a property that needs some work and do the repairs in lieu of an monetary option fee.
See the URLs in my sig at the bottom of the page and check them out, They are free.
Feel free to PM me if you want more info.
Don