How I became a landlord at 24

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How I became a landlord at 24

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Real estate investing is one of the most popular ways to invest your money. Your tenants can give you equity in your property, increase your net worth, pay off your debt, and give you passive income. I saved as much as I can with my first job after college. Half of my income went straight into student loans while the other half went towards savings. My parents provided me with food and shelter. By the time I was 24, I saved up about $35,000, giving me a good downpayment to buy my first property. With my 20% or $32,000 down, I bought a house in NE Philadelphia for $160,000. At 24, I also married my wife. She worked in Maryland while I worked in Pennsylvania so I was living alone in our new house.

At the time, my favorite TV channel was HGTV. I regularly watched Property Brothers and Income Property. I decided it would be best if I rented out all three bedrooms in my house while I would stay in the basement as a live-in landlord. This is also known as “House Hacking”. At the time, similar homes in my area were renting for $1100 per month. To get more money, I rented out each bedroom individually. The master bedroom rented for $500 per month while the smaller bedrooms rented for $450 and $300 per month, respectively. This gave me a total monthly cashflow of $1,250 per month. I paid the ~$800 mortgage, taxes, utilities, and internet bills using my own income and reinvested the entire tenant cashflow back into the principle of the mortgage. I was essentially applying the entire $1250 per month as principle payments.

After renting out the bed rooms for 1 year, my wife fully moved in and we ended all leases to focus on starting a family. Being a live-in landlord for one year allowed me to shave 8 years off my mortgage, saving thousands in interest.

You don’t need lots of money. You don’t even need to buy another property. You can be a landlord now by renting out your rooms or basement. You can even rent out your garage or shed as storage units. There are plenty of ways to make money. You just need to look. Invest in real estate with as little as $500 using my referral link with Fundrise, a crowd-funded real estate investment app. https://financethrottle.com/fundrise

Hyder A.

Hyder is the engineer and blogger behind Finance Throttle, a blog that helps you accelerate your net worth through personal finance. With a Master’s degree and 10+ years of experience in manufacturing, Hyder is well versed in the topics of engineering economics and financial studies helping him to invest in equipment and reduce manufacturing costs. Hyder is passionate about cars and earning money as he bought a Porsche at 21, became a landlord at 24, and paid off $40,000 in student loans at 25. Along with his wife, they are currently on track in paying off their $282,000 mortgage by 2026 (Only 7 years!)