taylor horton's dad was a private investor of some kind who gave his kid seed capital and lots of handholding, one-on-one training. not a good path for everyone. helps to start out rich and have some cushion to fall back on. that kid claimed to not be rich but LOLOLOLOLOLOL lack of self-awareness. dad bought him a bmw for his birthday. QED.
questions:
1. why do you need a master's degree to advance in IT? what is that $35K really buying you? do professionals in the cyber security field respect the credential or are they more interested in practical experience? does the master's really open doors that would otherwise not open? does the master's afford really excellent opportunities for networking and internships that could turn into well-paying employment? how strong is the job market there?
2. do you have to stay in NYC? or would you move elsewhere?
3. where are you planning to do this real estate investment? in NYC? even saving $20K/year you can't afford the down payment unless you're buying in like far rockaway or some shit. or elsewhere? managing a rental property is hard work, as you obviously know (although i thought you were a doorman?), so you either need to hire someone to take care of it or it has to be close enough to you that you can take care of it yourself. manhattan is out, most of brooklyn is out, probably even big swaths of queens are too expensive. my brother just moved from ocean hill to new haven, and there were houses going for over a million by the time he left. that's like the far side of bed-stuy!
my GF just bought a house in baltimore from a couple of amateurs who did what you're planning: bought a fixer-upper in a nice neighborhood, threw a bunch of money into it, and sold it. but they didn't make that much money, and the only reason they did better than break even is because they found a buyer (my GF) who was on a tight time schedule and couldn't afford to wait them out, so she overpaid for the place.
OTOH i have a buddy who's a carpenter and general contractor, also in baltimore, who bought a place really cheap a couple years ago and is fixing it up himself, and because it's in a slightly cheaper neighborhood that will turn into a more expensive neighborhood as it gentrifies, he's going to make a tidy profit whenever he sells it. but he bought it to live in, not to flip, so he's not in any kind of rush to do that and can wait for real appreciation in value.
