There’s a persistent myth in real estate that you need serious capital to get started. Six figures in the bank. A hefty down payment. The kind of money most people don’t have sitting around, especially in their 20s and 30s when they’re still building their careers.
The truth is, you don’t need $100,000 to start investing in real estate. Or $10,000. You don’t even need $25,000. There are legitimate paths into real estate with as little as $5,000 – $10,000 (some requiring even less than that.) The options look different than buying a rental property outright, but they’re real, and they work.
Let me walk you through what’s actually possible when you’re starting with limited capital, what the trade-offs are, and how I’d approach it if I were starting from scratch today.
Most people picture real estate investing as buying a property. A single-family home, maybe a duplex. You scrape together a down payment, get a mortgage, find tenants, and become a landlord. That’s the mental model, and it’s not wrong. It’s just incomplete.
The problem is that this traditional path does require significant capital. Even with a low down payment loan, you’re typically looking at $30,000 to $50,000 minimum when you factor in the down payment, closing costs, and reserves for repairs and vacancies. In expensive markets, double or triple that.
So people assume they’re locked out. They figure they’ll wait until they’ve saved more, and in the meantime, they park their money in a savings account earning 3% while inflation quietly eats away at it. Or they throw it into the stock market and hope for the best, watching their portfolio rise and fall with every news cycle.
Here’s what I wish someone had told me earlier: you don’t have to buy a property to invest in real estate. There are ways to get real estate exposure, real estate returns, and real estate diversification with a fraction of the capital. Some of these options are more hands-on, others are completely passive. But all of them are accessible to someone with $10,000 or less.
Option 1: House Hacking (If You’re Willing to Get Hands-On)
House hacking is the classic low-money-down strategy, and it works. The basic idea is that you buy a small multifamily property (a duplex, triplex, or fourplex) live in one unit, and rent out the others. Because you’re occupying the property, you can use owner-occupied financing with down payments as low as 3.5% through FHA loans.
On a $300,000 duplex, that’s a down payment of around $10,500. The rental income from the other unit covers most or all of your mortgage, and you’re essentially living for free while building equity.
The trade-off is that this isn’t passive. You’re a landlord. You’re living next door to your tenants. You’re handling maintenance, dealing with vacancies, and learning property management on the fly. For some people, especially younger investors with time and energy to spare, this is a great way to break into real estate. You learn the business from the inside while building equity with minimal capital.
But for busy professionals with demanding careers… the kind of people who value their weekends and don’t want a 10pm call about a leaky faucet… house hacking might not be the right fit. It’s a solid wealth-building strategy, but it’s definitely a hands-on one.
Option 2: Real Estate Crowdfunding Platforms
Over the past decade, a handful of platforms have emerged that let everyday investors participate in real estate deals online. Companies like Fundrise, RealtyMogul, and CrowdStreet pool money from investors and deploy it into real estate projects like residential developments, commercial properties and debt funds.
Minimums vary by platform, but some let you start with as little as $500 or $1,000. You’re essentially buying a piece of a larger real estate investment that would normally be inaccessible to individual investors.
The appeal is obvious: low minimums, passive involvement, and diversification across multiple properties. The limitations are worth understanding too. Many of these platforms invest your money across a general fund rather than letting you choose specific deals. You’re trusting the platform’s judgment on where to allocate capital. Fees can eat into returns. And some platforms have lock-up periods where you can’t easily access your money.
For someone with limited capital who wants real estate exposure without being a landlord, crowdfunding platforms can be a decent starting point. Just read the fine print, understand the fee structure, and know what you’re actually investing in.
