I bought my first investment property while still in college. Now I'm 24 and own 30 homes as a full-time landlord.

Lawrence Guerguis became a landlord at 21 years old.

Now he owns more than 30 properties.

Courtesy of Lawrence Guerguis Lawrence Guerguis started his real estate career at age 21 and now owns over 30 properties.

Guerguis thought he wanted to be an investment banker in college, but switched to real estate.

He moved to Ohio after college to be a hands-on landlord, but now manages his properties from California.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Lawrence Guerguis, a 24-year-old based in Orange County, California, who started investing in real estate in the Midwest while still in college.

The following has been edited for length and clarity.

I always thought I'd go into investment banking and work on Wall Street .

During my sophomore year of college at the University of San Diego, I homed in on finance as my major.

One weekend during my junior year, I went out to the bars.

We went out to this pizza spot that my friends and I usually go to, and I ran into this guy who was sitting there acting a little odd.

I was like, "Hey, is everything all right?" He turned to me and said, "Dude, I only have two weeks of the year to have a good time.

Just leave me alone." I asked what he did, and he said he worked in investment banking , so I sat and talked with him for like an hour.

He asked me if I loved money, and I said no.