I am an inexperienced high student with aspirations of investing in commercial real estate
I am a naïve student in high school that is interested in one day investing in commercial real estate. Currently, I am overwhelmed by the seemingly unlimited number of ways to make money in real estate from section 8 rentals, to air bnb arbitrage, to retail centers, to single family homes, to self storage. All I know is that I am interested in purchasing positively cash flowing properties that also gain in equity, with ability for scale. For this reason, apartment buildings seem like the best way to start.

My current plan is to use an FHA loan to purchase a 4-plex while I am in college. I have made enough money to cover a down payment on a typical property in the area I will be studying, as well as some money for a typical rehab that will force appreciation. Understanding that projected rents of the property probably won’t be enough to qualify for the loan, I will likely ask my mom to cosign which will definitely help me qualify.

After I graduate college and have lived in the FHA financed property for at least one year, I plan to either sell the property or get a cash-out refinance to get my equity out. Then, I plan to use that capital to buy more commercial real estate and scale from there using private equity.

Background: I come from a relatively well off family. My mom is a successful residential real estate developer with a net worth in the neighborhood of $20MM but my dad is not in the picture. My mom is very supportive of me pursuing a career in real estate.

Is this a stupid plan? As a kid who is not a millionaire, I am not aware of many other attractive options to get into the commercial real estate business. Please let me know if I am going about this the wrong way.
[{"id": "ikcddfc", "text": "The fourplex idea is great.  If you've got the money saved up to make it work, go for it!  It's good you have your mom who hopefully has some rental experience to help you find a property that will work.\n\nConsider hiring property management for the 3 units you'll be renting out.  At your age and with zero experience it's gonna be hard to do a good job managing tenants.  I started with a triplex I lived in 20 years ago and although I tried my best, I didn't do a very good job at managing.  Looking back I'd have been better off if I hired management from the start.\n\nAs far as scaling up, unless your mom wants to help out with some down payment money, don't rush into trying to scale up.  You need to know what you're doing before you go looking for private lenders and buying more stuff.  You don't have extra cash (unless your mom helps out, which would be great!) for large down payments so it's gonna be harder to find cash flowing properties worth owning.\n\nDon't believe the bullshitters talking about scaling up from zero to 20 units in two years, or whatever.  Either they had family money, took giant risks and got lucky (but they still could be bankrupted any time by a bad economy or bad luck), or they don't even have 20 units and they're just lying.\n\nYour goal should be to build a good foundation for further real estate investment in your future.  By that I mean, get one or two good cash flowing properties that can form the backbone of your eventual portfolio.  Reliable money makers that you and the bank can count on.  Properties that people will always want to rent in any economy.  Start with that, build slowly and safely from there, and yes, my man, your dream of owning a bunch of real estate one day can come true.  Good luck!", "replies": [{"id": "ikcfdqp", "text": "Wow! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave this genuinely thoughtful response, seriously. I agree with your point about hiring management. I totally did not consider that.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}, {"id": "ikckru1", "text": "&amp;#x200B;\n\nI'm behind the points in u/AxTheAxMan's response and will add on a bit.\n\nHas your mother invested in similar size and type or larger real estate herself with a value add model within the past five-or-so years?  What will her ownership stake be in the deal?  If she's a 20%+ owner in your property, you'll have a significantly easier time securing a quality loan.\n\nI'll emphasize that I agree with u/LuckyAxTheAxMan on his point with stabilizing your foundation and not growing too quickly.  Quality lenders will want to see that you have at least 8 months to a year's worth of stabilized rents on the value-add property before granting a refinance. (Reference the BRRRR model).\n\nLucky you, play the cards you've got!", "replies": [], "depth": 2}, {"id": "ikd7hdr", "text": "Tenants will eat up a young kid without any experience.  I know I went through the same exact thing.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}, {"id": "ikejxfj", "text": "I went from 0 to 20 units in under 2 years but that was mainly able to be achieved because I partnered with 2 other people my age. Not a bad way to scale though. On your own, 0 to 20 is a big leap", "replies": [], "depth": 2}, {"id": "ikfhrl1", "text": "Does the \u2018rue of seven\u2019 still hold?  You should be able to double your holdings every 7 years?", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ikcg6pa", "text": "Your going in the right direction but getting an FHA loan without any income even with a guarantee from your wealthy parent might be harder than it seems.  Also, with todays interest rates being higher than cap rates you are going to be significantly cash flow negative without putting a significant amount down.\n\nYou might have to buy it 50/50 tenants in common with your parents.", "replies": [{"id": "ikcgxdk", "text": "I definitely see your point. I am hoping, however, that having a wealthy co-signer might be able to slightly lower the interest rate. Nonetheless, interest rates being higher than cap rates is a major, major challenge. \n\nCould you possibly clarify what you mean by 50/50 tenants in common with my parents? I am unclear on that.", "replies": [{"id": "ikd7euw", "text": "50/50 in common means your mom owns half and you own half", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ike31sf", "text": "Keep this energy. Lots of points of entry in CRE and RRE", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ikh2hfv", "text": "For now, Please join Bigger Pockets and please learn about BRRR.  Please look up, research, and study the term \"house hack.\"  \n\nPlease also consider:  a quad is GREAT! but a three-decker or even a duplex will help you out, especially with your background. \n\nConsider getting your sales license as soon as you can. If nothing else, it will teach you respect for the laws you never knew existed and/or why.  \n\nI didn't see: what are you intending to study in college?   If you truly want what you want... make it an overlap.  That could be as broad as engineering to business to geography and planning to architecture or CAD.  Outside academics, MEP, especially HVAC or even hospitality could do just fine for a phenomenal career for you.  Property management, which you'll be doing with your own property always needs people, and some of that stuff, you could start RIGHT NOW even!  \n\n I started with housepainting as a HS Junior. Eventually, did carpentry,  drywall, flooring, but NEVER saw the crossover until I found development.   You have a serious leg up on almost all of us.  Network a ton.   \n\nMy advice: my BEST angles when networking are when I'm not \"same\" as everyone else, but instead when I'm on the periphery: in a room full of brokers, I'm the commercial guy.  In a room full of CRE people, I'm the developer.   In a room full of developers, I'm the infrastructure guy. In a room full of infrastructure people, I'm the guy that understands traditional RE.    Be the one who fits in but still differently. \n\nTo that point, you're right to be overwhelmed.  Everyone gets overwhelmed,  if they're being honest with themselves... RE is a small pond.... but with a huge number of species.    For example, after a ton of time in the biz from trades to legal to brokerage to development, I just now replied to an RFP where the underlying land is a brownfield.  Damn right I'm overwhelmed.   Learning as you go is not only the right way, it's not only commendable, it's DEMANDED by the breadth of this industry.  The only people I don't respect are those who specialize so narrowly that they've lost the ability to be agile and learn.  \n\nGood luck.  Ping me if I can help.", "replies": [{"id": "ikhnj91", "text": "Thank you so much for all the insight. I\u2019ll definitely look into Bigger Pockets more as a resource.", "replies": [{"id": "ikibeo5", "text": "BP isn't perfect by any stretch, but for people with interest and who are starting out there's a serious wealth of accessible knowledge there. \n\n Eat up that knowledge and then move onto better sources from there.    Good luck.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}, {"id": "il9lbbv", "text": "BP is basically a scammer site.  There can be good info there but a novice would not be able to discern what was good and what was bad.  \n\nThey allow members to pay them a monthly fee to be called \"Pro\".  On the YouTube they block comments that point out their ignorance.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ikoemv9", "text": "Love your plan and energy. One thing I have to bring up. Just bc your family member is successful doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019ll be. You have to put in the work no BS. You have the advance of her connections and knowledge but that is pretty much it. So if you do go into RE it\u2019s one of the hardest jobs bc you are wearing many hats and have to pivot multiple times, and learn many aspect of sales. That our broken system don\u2019t teach you. \n\nI would also find your tribe, and have people helping you along the way. Most people who are broke, poor, and loving pay check to pay check have no tribe and have no dream or purpose to thrive by. With these people who are in your circle that made it will help level you or even excel you.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ikp6zxg", "text": "At the beginning focus on just one asset class and commit to becoming an expert in it. Market and product knowledge are two fundamental ingredients.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "iktubai", "text": "You can turn decades into days by finding the right mentor. Sounds like you might have a good one in the family\u2026 I\u2019d go into development if I were you.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]