One of the downsides to real estate is that the best ways to invest require a lot of money. 

If you buy properties directly, you’ll likely need at least $50,000 to $100,000 between the down payment, closing costs, initial repair costs, and cash reserves. 

You’ll need just as much if you invest passively in syndications—at least if you do so by yourself (which is why I go in on them with a co-investing club and invest $5,000 at a time instead). 

But if you do want to get to $50,000 fast, what are your options? 

The Income Side

You can grow your savings rate from one of two directions: earning more or spending less. Ideally, you do both at the same time. 

Sell your stuff

Have a yard sale (or garage sale, rummage sale, or whatever you call it in your neck of the woods). 

Sell all the stuff that’s cluttering up your basement, garage, and closets. Post the best and most valuable items on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist first, and encourage people to come to your yard sale to see what else you have. 

You won’t make a fortune, but you’ll have more money and less clutter, which is always nice. 

Rent your stuff

Don’t want to part with some items forever, but not using them either? Rent out your tools, camera gear, ski equipment, or whatever else has real value that you’re not using. 

You can also rent out storage space in your home through websites like Sparefoot and Neighbor. For that matter, you can also rent out parking for cars, boats, RVs, and more if you have the space for them. 

Bring in a housemate

When I bought my first house, I rented out the other bedroom to a stranger I met through Craigslist. Fifteen years later, she and her husband are two of my best friends, and their kids are close to my daughter. 

Start or expand a side hustle

I’ve written before about real estate side hustles that can pay $100K+ a year. But no one says it has to be real estate-related. 

Do graphic design, bookkeeping, or freelance writing on the side. I myself still do some freelance work as a financial writer, and I love it. 

Prefer working with your hands? Offer handyman services. Bake customized cakes. Get creative. 

You can even flip free or cheap stuff you find on Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, Freecycle, and garage sales. Clean it up and sell it at a premium. 

Get a raise

If you’ve coasted for too long at work, consider cleaning up your resume and taking a new job for a pay raise. 

Or sit down with your boss and say, “I believe in what we’re doing here, and I think I could do more to help. What opportunities do you have for me to take on more responsibility and advancement?”

It’s not always that easy to get a promotion—but sometimes it is. 

The Spending Side

Even as you’re adding income, trim down your spending to supercharge your savings rate. 

Use the subscription kill switch

Suspend or pause every subscription you have. Every…single…one. No exceptions. 

That goes for entertainment like video and music streaming services, of course. But it also goes for convenience services, software, and more. 

Do an audit, going back over every credit card statement for the last year. Look not just for monthly payments but annual renewals as well. 

Pause every one, and in a month from now, go back and resume the few that you really, truly left a gaping hole in your life. Leave the others behind. 

Cut out commercial food and drink

I love a great meal out as much as the next guy. But for a savings sprint, you should prepare everything yourself. 

That goes for meals, of course (including work lunches), but also beverages like coffee, tea, and alcohol. No more Starbucks lattes or happy hour beers. You can only have what you’ve stocked at home until you’ve reached your savings goal. 

Take the pantry challenge

We all throw things in our freezers and pantries, only to forget they’re there. 

Take the pantry challenge: Eat only what you already have in your kitchen until you’ve cleaned out your freezer and pantry. You can make an exception for ultra-perishables like eggs, but that’s it. 

Need recipe ideas? Tell ChatGPT what you have and ask what you could make. You’ll be surprised at the creative ideas you come away with. 

Enter a shopping moratorium

Likewise, you’re not allowed to buy any clothes or personal items until your savings sprint finishes. 

You can make an exception for bare essentials like toothpaste. But no expensive beauty products, shoes, jackets, or clothing of any kind. 

You have plenty of clothes in your closet for survival. And if you go a season without wearing the latest clothing trend on TikTok, that’s the price of building real wealth rather than the appearance of it. 

Embrace free entertainment

It’s easy to pay for prepackaged entertainment, especially with kids: amusement parks, video arcades, restaurants and bars, escape rooms, and travel. 

On a savings sprint, stop paying for entertainment. Embrace hiking and biking. Borrow free audiobooks, e-books, and paper books from the library. For that matter, borrow movies, video games, and jigsaw puzzles from the library, too. Have game nights with your friends or significant other. 

You’d be surprised how much fun you can have for free. 

Bike or scooter instead of driving

For six years, my family lived without a car. It was awesome. 

Granted, you probably aren’t willing to give up a car entirely. But every time you go somewhere, ask yourself if you could bike there instead. 

As they say, biking saves you money and runs on fat, while driving costs you money and makes you fat. To this day, I aim to walk or bike or scooter to get around town, even though we have a car again. 

Explore Ways to Invest With Less

Yes, you need $50K-$100K for real estate investments like rental properties or syndications—if you invest by yourself without exploring alternatives. 

One option you may not have explored is joint venture partnerships. If you want to buy directly, or if you know a skilled investor, you could partner on a deal together and come up with less money. We form plenty of private partnerships in my co-investing club as well, whether to flip houses, land, or build barndominiums. 

You can also go in on syndications with a group of investors, something else I do every month in the co-investing club. I put $5,000 at a time in different deals. 

Or you can lend money through a secured note. I do that too.

For that matter, you can invest in real estate investment trusts (REITs). They’re liquid and easy to buy, and you don’t need much money to invest. The problem: They share too close a correlation with the stock market. In fact, they’re effectively just another sector of the stock market. 

Go on a savings sprint. But rather than putting $50,000 to $100,000 in a single investment, consider spreading that among 10 to 20 different real estate investments for true diversification. Practice dollar-cost averaging, investing $2,500 to $5,000 a month in new investments rather than one-off $50,000 investments. 

Take it from someone who’s invested both ways—it’s a more comfortable way to invest.