Real-estate investors who started with little savings share 4 creative ways they bought property

Grace Cary/Getty Images Four investors share how they used existing assets to fund their first rental properties. Their approaches included borrowing from their 401(k), home equity, and a paid-off truck. The strategies lowered the cash barrier but added debt. It's easy for prospective real-estate investors to get discouraged by sticker shock. Many lenders require a down payment of at least 20% for an investment property. With the median US home price hovering around $400,000 , that can mean coming up with $80,000 — and that's without factoring in closing costs, repairs, and cash reserves. If you don't have tens of thousands of dollars in cash at your disposal, investing in real estate isn't necessarily out of reach. Business Insider spoke with four investors who found creative ways to use assets they already had — from retirement savings to a paid-off truck — to help finance their first deals.