'I was a single mother with 2 small kids:' Here's how Ashley Hamilton flipped a $20,000 waitressing salary into real-estate-investing success and a 10-unit portfolio

• Ashley Hamilton started her real-estate-investing journey as a single mother of two, making $20,000 a year as a waitress.
• She eschewed conventional wisdom and was able to leverage a lack of capital and income to work to her advantage.
• Today, Hamilton owns nine properties for a total of 10 units.
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Real-estate investing always interested Ashley Hamilton.

"When I was younger, I always liked to watch HGTV," she said on the "BiggerPockets" podcast. "I always had interest really early."

But as Hamilton grew older - and her desire to become a full-fledged real-estate investor heightened - she realized that her monetary situation posed a significant hindrance.

"I did not start from much. I grew up kind of poverty," she said. "We were on government assistance, and we were on section eight, and we lived in Detroit our whole life."

But 22-year-old Hamilton didn't let her circumstances dictate her future. It would take some creative thinking to transfer her passion for real estate into action, but she was prepared to do whatever was necessary to fulfill her dream of becoming a successful investor.

Leveraging her circumstances

Hamilton's overarching goal was straightforward: Buy 10 properties, sell them for $100,000 each, become a millionaire, and retire at 30 years old.

"At 22, I had two kids - single parent. I was making $20,000 a year as a waitress," she said. "I had to eliminate my biggest expense, which was my rent. I was paying $700 a month in rent."

With her rent expense at the forefront of her focus, Hamilton started to devise a plan. Interestingly enough, her lack of income - which most would view as a impenetrable barrier to the real-estate investing arena - worked to her advantage.

"A lot of people say that 'I can't get started because I don't have money.' That's everybody's biggest thing," she said. "I didn't have a mother who I can borrow $10,000 from. I didn't have a 401K; I didn't have a line of credit I can get. I had to find some way."

She added: "The good thing about it, is not having money kind of worked in my benefit because I got a tax return at the end of the year. By me only making $20,000 - and I had two kids - I was able to get a $5,000 to $6,000 tax return."

The first deal

At the time, properties in Hamilton's home market of Detroit were selling at bargain-basement prices. It wasn't uncommon to see homes acquired for $3,000 - $6,000 - and this presented Hamilton with a tremendous opportunity.

After some researching, Hamilton found a three bedroom ranch for $6,300. The property was right in her wheelhouse - and her yearly tax return was on the way.

"When I got the tax return for $6,000 I was able to slowly save up the rest of the money for the close," she said. "Once I got the property, it needed about $3,000 to $4,000 worth of work. I saved up for that and it took me about five months to get that to do the work. But basically I just wanted the house to be livable."

After that first purchase, Hamilton was off to the races. She took the $700 she used to spend on rent and socked that money away into a savings account. The next year, when her tax return hit her bank account, Hamilton was ready to spring on another property.

Repetition

Her second purchase was a $4,000 home, which needed about $6,000 worth of repairs. Thanks to frugal habits, stringent savings, and a $5,000 tax return, Hamilton was able to purchase and rehabilitate the property. Her mother, who became the tenant, was charged $600 a month.

"I just kept repeating the process," she said. "All the rent from the property that I was collecting, the rent that I was saving for my own house - and then my income - just basically saved that and then waited until I got my tax return the following year then bought another property."

Hamilton continued: "I repeated that step and then eventually I was able to buy two properties or more in a year."

Today, Hamilton owns nine properties, totaling 10 units. On average, her properties rent for about $900 a month.

In addition to her tax returns, Hamilton now siphons cash from her established properties to purchase new homes and uses 0% interest credit cards to complete repairs.

"I was a single mother with two small kids," she said. "Don't be afraid of things if you think they're unattainable. Just stay focused on your goals and they can happen. Just work hard on them. You may have to do some sacrificing but it definitely will work out for you."