There’s a myth attached to real estate investing that you must be rich to do it. Unfortunately, many people believe this to be truth and won’t even consider investing in real estate as a result. But in truth, you don’t have to be rich to invest in real estate. There are ways to go about it without having a lot of money to get started. Below I will list a few to help you get started.
Crowdfunding
You can invest in real estate even if you don’t have a lot of money. Crowdfunding allows you to add your investment money with that of other people so it can be invested in real estate. Everyone shares in the profits and gains a regular stream of income.
A Real Estate Investment Trust, or REIT, is one way this can be done. An REIT models mutual funds and gives investors the ability to diversity their investments through real estate. REIT’s are made up of a whole team of knowledgeable experts who work for you by devising a plan to invest the pooled money in property options that a single investor with limited capital would not be able to on their own.
The plan usually includes spreading the investment money over more than one property to increase the profit potential of your investment and lower the risk at the same time. They do charge fees, of course, so find out what those are before you sign any binding documents, but they do pay shareholders the majority of the profits through dividends on a regular basis and the profits are usually sizable. In addition, investing in crowd funded real estate can be done over the internet from the comfort of your own home.
Rentals
If you would rather invest in a single family rental, however, that is another option you could choose instead. There are even ways you can select a turnkey rental property in one of several different locations without having to put in a lot of research or work yourself. In addition, they offer help managing the property so you can purchase real estate in another part of the country without having to worry about how you will handle such things as maintenance or collecting rent allowing you to remain an investor, not a manager. To help you get started, you may be able to qualify for an FHA loan with only a 3.5% down-payment required as compared to a traditional bank loan which usually requires a 20% down-payment. As a first time buyer without a lot of money saved up to get you started, this is a huge advantage.
House Flipping
House flipping is another way to get you started with real estate investing if you are handy and can do a lot of the work yourself. To get started without a lot of money to invest, team up with a friend, relative or co-worker who has the capital to invest but not the know-how or time to do the work. Each of you can profit if you are careful with how you invest the money in repairs.
As you can clearly see, you don’t have to be rich to invest in real estate. Choose one of these options and you are on your way to building income for your future.
Kayla is a personal finance blogger in her mid-20s who loves to write about money topics of all kinds.
James Hendrickson is an internet entrepreneur, blogging junky, hunter and personal finance geek. When he’s not lurking in coffee shops in Portland, Oregon, you’ll find him in the Pacific Northwest’s great outdoors. James has a masters degree in Sociology from the University of Maryland at College Park and a Bachelors degree on Sociology from Earlham College. He loves individual stocks, bonds and precious metals.