“I bought a triplex at 20 for $12,000”

Austin Glanzer was still in college when he decided to buy his first home in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Only why stop at just one when you can buy three? Here’s how he bought a triplex with a down payment costing less than a new car, and how this investment enabled him to secure financial independence before graduating.

How’d you get started investing in real estate? At 20, just married—crazy, right?—I purchased a $300,000 triplex using an FHA loan and seller assistance, putting just $12,000 down. My monthly payment was $2,200, but we eliminated our housing costs by renting the other two units for $1,100 and $1,150 each.

Did the property need much work? Yes, we did a lot of the work ourselves. We ripped out the carpet and installed LVP flooring. A friend of mine, who’s a contractor, helped move the kitchen and fix the mini-split. The flooring and kitchen renovation cost us about $9,000. We also painted the darker rooms white to make them look a lot bigger.

Once your tenants were paying your mortgage, what did you do with all your free time? This house hack not only gave us free living, it sparked a passion for real estate that led to my founding the homebuying company 717HomeBuyers. Today, at 27, I own 20 rental units.

What advice do you have for real estate investors? If I had to give one piece of advice, it would be to live below your means. My wife and I were both working in the beginning, but we made a conscious decision to save her entire income and live only on mine. We treated it as if I was the sole earner. By doing this, we were able to build up significant savings, which later helped us cover the down payment and renovations when the time was right. Even a modest investment can lead to financial freedom. And no, my wife didn’t leave me even though we had that crazy beginning to our marriage!

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