Tool 10--Research Home Ownership and Real Estate Investing
- Leslie Lewis (she/her)
- Oct 24
- 3 min read
After the stock market, real estate investing is the next most accessible form of putting money to work, in my opinion.
I bought my first apartment in 1996, using the proceeds from the life insurance payout that I had received after my father's death. After living in it, I sold it five years later for double what I had paid for it. Very satisfying.
That's an example of the market going up, and I got lucky, to be honest. But something I like about real estate is: if the market goes south, I can always live in the property, or rent it out. I'm not a huge fan of being a landlord, but I'll do it if need be, and it can be a solid way to create income, depending on the property and how things are structured.
This tool is not for everyone, but the idea here is to start to research this way of investing money. As I say in the video, I personally think it would be incredible for everyone easily to own their own home. There can be a stability to that, that I think is valuable.
But is is VERY important to buy the right level of home--meaning, to be clear on what the monthly and annual costs will be, property taxes, maintenance, etc, and make sure that those won't create more stress than it's worth. I recently spoke with a friend who was touring apartments, getting a sense of what a budget would buy. That exercise is eye opening and useful for making clear what is necessary.
There are many resources for first-time home owners, like Federal Housing
Administration (FHA) loans .
From Google:
The federal government offers loan programs with more lenient qualification requirements than conventional loans, particularly for first-time or low-income buyers.
One example is an FHA loan: Backed by the Federal Housing Administration, these loans allow for down payments as low as 3.5% for applicants with a credit score of 580 or higher.
[current shutdown notwithstanding, there's good information on this page]
FHA loans even allow a buyer to purchase a multi-unit dwelling (1-4 units), which means that the property could allow for rentals as well as being the owner's primary residence.
That was what my parents did with their first home, back in the early 70s when I was born. They bought a townhouse (we called it a brownstone, not sure why) that was divided into two apartments. We lived in the one unit, and they rented out the other apartment to a tenant, thus creating income that helped to pay the mortgage. Very smart.
Here's a picture of me in front of that home.
Lil cutie.
Beyond owning one's own home, real estate investing is another option to explore. This is where mentorship is so valuable. Do you know anyone who invests in real estate? Invite them out to tea or lunch, and ask them what that's like. See if it appeals to you.
What do you think of real estate and home ownership? Let me know in the comments. And as always, thanks for reading this.
Quick links:
What is The MGB Investing Starter Kit? is HERE
Step 1 in the MGB Investing Starter Kit process is HERE
Step 2 is HERE --Keep a 'Digit Tally', like You Need A Budget or RocketMoney or our free tracker template HERE
Step 3 is HERE
What is Investing? is HERE
To buy our self-paced investing course for $49, sign up by clicking HERE.
For the 90 min zoom class during Black History Month for $98, click HERE.
To register for our 6 month course, for $795, click HERE.
Equity through equities.
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