I bought a fixer-upper for $347,000 and turned it into two Airbnbs. It went so well I turned the garage into two more.

Vanessa Banh turned a garage on her property into two Airbnb units.

Courtesy of Vanessa Banh Vanessa Banh bought her first home but never planned on living in it.

Bahn turned the four-bedroom home into two Airbnb properties, then turned the garage into two more.

She said she'd rather make extra money than live in one of the units.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Vanessa Banh , 28, a former accountant turned entrepreneur who bought a four-bedroom house with a garage in Modesto, California, and turned it into four separate Airbnb properties.

The following has been edited for length and clarity.

I feel like my generation is half and half on whether they want to own a home .

Personally, I think it's really expensive now compared to our parents' generation .

The cost of living and our wages compared to the cost of housing is just outrageous.

For me, I was always looking for different ways to get more money.

I listened to a lot of real estate people and gurus, and thought owning a house was the way to go to build assets and real wealth long-term.

So why not start now if I can? I bought a house for $347,000 in 2022 as a fixer-upper and took my time.

It was actually a cash or hard-money loan-only sale.

I had a friend who's a hard money lender, and he looked at the property, and he was like, "I can lend this for you." So we purchased it through him through hard money.