A millennial who bought his first rental home at 23 explains the one costly mistake first-time homebuyers should avoid

• Ryan Chaw, 31, bought his first home in 2016 at the age of 23.
• He kept living with his parents so he could rent the home and earn thousands of dollars per month.
• Despite this success, he said he made one big homebuying mistake.

When Ryan Chaw was in his early 20s, he was eager to grow his wealth, and he saw real estate investing as one path to accomplishing this. But he knew he was going to need a lot of money.