College dropouts build $2 million real estate portfolio with a few hundred dollars in savings after reading Rich Dad Poor Dad

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High school friends Caleb Hommel and Chuck Sotelo got the idea to start investing in real estate after reading Rich Dad Poor Dad while taking online classes in college.

“My mom told me to try ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad’ and I thought it was really cool, so I gave it to Caleb. That’s when we decided real estate investing was the way to go, but we weren’t exactly sure. how we were going to do it,” Sotelo told Insider last year.

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The two had zero experience and almost zero dollars in their bank accounts. With just a few hundred dollars each, they signed up for a mentorship program and started working for DoorDash to keep up with the monthly dues. That’s when they realized they wanted to target multifamily properties.

A mentor in the program advised them to spend a lot of time finding the best deal possible. One semester into college, Hommel and Sotelo decided to drop out so they could fully focus on looking for their first property.

To get the best deal possible, the duo targeted real estate markets in Florida and Texas that met three requirements. It had to be a multifamily property, it had to be occupied by tenants, and the seller had to be willing to provide seller financing (a real estate agreement that allows the buyer to make incremental payments to the seller upon purchase).

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Seller financing was a must because there were no banks willing to give loans to a college dropout couple making about $400 a month from DoorDash.

After about 500 phone calls over a six-month period, the two finally landed their first deal: a 10-unit building in Texas for $900,000. They raised $90,000 for a down payment from family, friends and other real estate investors, offering 8% interest annually.

The pair reached out to “anyone and everyone” to gauge interest, Hommel said.

They structured the deal so they could buy out the investors at a certain point, meaning Hommel and Sotelo would eventually own the property, even though they didn’t put up any of their own money.

The pair used the exact same approach to acquire two more properties in recent years: an eight-unit building for $700,000 and a 10-unit building for $725,000. As of 2023, the duo owned 28 units in three properties together.

“Anyone can get started in real estate,” says Hommel. “We just go out there and take action.”

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This article College Dropout Builds $2 Million Real Estate Portfolio With A Few Hundred Dollars in Savings After Reading Rich Dad Poor Dad originally appeared on Benzinga.com