A 28-Year-Old Bought Houses And Reached A $1 Million Net Worth Without A Six-Figure Job: 'By The Time We Got To The Third House, I Was 18'

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Sebastian Marquez reached a $1 million net worth without a six-figure job by getting started early, he told CNBC. The 28-year-old picked up jobs at McDonald's (NYSE:MCD), Walmart (NYSE:WMT), and a chicken farm to save extra money.

He saved up $8,000 for a car by the time he turned 16, but his mother changed his trajectory by suggesting that he use the money to buy a house instead.

His mother found a $48,800 home in the neighborhood, and they put $9,800 down to buy the property. Marquez paid $8,000, while his mother covered the remaining $1,800, and it snowballed from there.

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"By the time we got to the third house, I was 18," Marquez told CNBC.

He chronicled his journey and shared how he built a seven-figure net worth even though he had never earned more than $100,000 in a single year.

Buy, Fix, And Flip

Marquez's real estate investing strategy involved buying affordable homes in nearby neighborhoods, fixing them up, and flipping them for a profit. After giving him the nudge to buy a house, Marquez's mother helped out with renovation costs by pulling from her credit lines. She bet on her son, and it ultimately paid off.

"My mom has been a cornerstone in my life," Marquez told CNBC. "She’s always kind of guided me in the right direction."

He worked at Walmart and attended school while renovating the property, and while it was a tight schedule, it ultimately paid off. Six months after buying the house, he sold it for $82,200 in 2014. He didn't know anything about construction and renovation when he got started, but by the time he sold the house, he was ready for more.

"It just started to fuel my hunger for real estate," he said.

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Marquez quickly poured the profits into another fixer-upper. He told CNBC that he purchased and flipped nine homes from 2013 to 2022. He currently has a rental property that brings in $14,500 per year.

Income Growth Led To More Opportunities

Marquez hasn't reached a six-figure salary yet, but as he flipped more properties, his income also grew, which made it easier to put larger down payments and invest in other assets. He climbed Walmart's corporate ladder and eventually earned $43,000 per year. After working at Walmart for more than 13 years, he left the company to become a business advisor, where he currently earns $57,500 per year.

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"Leaving Walmart was one of the toughest decisions I've ever made," he told CNBC.

Marquez envisioned climbing higher on Walmart's corporate ladder, but the unpredictability of a retail schedule and his desire to spend more time with his family led him to switch jobs. His wife earns about $64,500 per year as a registered nurse.

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Diversifying Into Additional Investments

Marquez focused on real estate throughout his teen years, but he started investing in index funds in 2020 when he and his wife combined their finances. They got married two years after they combined their finances, and at that point, they invested 15% of their income into index funds. Marquez told CNBC that his father-in-law introduced him to index funds.

"I didn't really understand the power of compound growth up until that point," he said. "From that point on, I started putting a monthly amount away for retirement."

He also invested $25,000 into Bitcoin and Ethereum in May 2019, which turned into roughly $400,000. Those investments make up almost half of the couple's net worth. He attributed this investment decision to one of his mother's suggestions.

The couple aims to purchase more real estate in the future while increasing how much they put in index funds. He aims to be financially independent by 35.

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This article A 28-Year-Old Bought Houses And Reached A $1 Million Net Worth Without A Six-Figure Job: 'By The Time We Got To The Third House, I Was 18' originally appeared on Benzinga.com

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