Share some good college degrees that go along with real estate investing!

[Marcos Cardenas]

Hello BP family! Some advice and experiences from you would be appreciated. I would like to know what are some good college degrees that go hand in hand with the real estate industry. I want to go to college and fortunate to go using my military tuition but I am a little stuck on what to study. I am a rookie investor currently house hacking. What have you got a degree in and has worked for you in real estate? Thank you!

[River Sava]

Hey Marcos - I studied biology and poly sci but if I could go back I would pursue a degree in business finance/economics with a minor in real estate if your school offers that. Understanding financial markets, economic principles, and investment analysis will be very beneficial, especially with property valuation, investment analysis, and financial management. Just my opinion, but you can always learn on your own time if you have a passion for something unrelated you want to study.

[Wale Lawal]

@Marcos Cardenas

Real estate careers might benefit from the information and abilities that college degrees offer. Degrees in Real Estate Studies, Finance or Economics, Management or Business Administration, Geography or Urban Planning, Law, and Civil Engineering or Construction Management are among those that are frequently pursued. The concepts, techniques, investment methods, property management, finance, urban planning, and land development of real estate are the main topics of these programs. Degrees in finance or economics offer a solid basis in investment techniques, market trends, and financial analysis.

A thorough grasp of corporate operations, leadership concepts, and strategic planning may be obtained with a degree in business administration or management. Understanding urban settings, land use patterns, and spatial analysis are the main areas of study in urban planning and geography. A thorough understanding of legal concepts, contracts, property rights, and regulatory difficulties may be gained via studying law, especially real estate law. Civil engineering, or construction management, provides knowledge of project management, building design, and construction methods. The ideal degree program will vary depending on personal preferences, professional aspirations, and intended real estate sector job.

Good luck!

[Marcos Cardenas]

Quote from @River Sava:

Hey Marcos - I studied biology and poly sci but if I could go back I would pursue a degree in business finance/economics with a minor in real estate if your school offers that. Understanding financial markets, economic principles, and investment analysis will be very beneficial, especially with property valuation, investment analysis, and financial management. Just my opinion, but you can always learn on your own time if you have a passion for something unrelated you want to study.

 Hello River! Thank you for sharing your experience and some ideas! I will definitely look into the business finance and economics side of things with my school. Hopefully they have a real estate program. Thanks again for your feedback!

[Marcos Cardenas]

Quote from @Wale Lawal:

@Marcos Cardenas

Real estate careers might benefit from the information and abilities that college degrees offer. Degrees in Real Estate Studies, Finance or Economics, Management or Business Administration, Geography or Urban Planning, Law, and Civil Engineering or Construction Management are among those that are frequently pursued. The concepts, techniques, investment methods, property management, finance, urban planning, and land development of real estate are the main topics of these programs. Degrees in finance or economics offer a solid basis in investment techniques, market trends, and financial analysis.

A thorough grasp of corporate operations, leadership concepts, and strategic planning may be obtained with a degree in business administration or management. Understanding urban settings, land use patterns, and spatial analysis are the main areas of study in urban planning and geography. A thorough understanding of legal concepts, contracts, property rights, and regulatory difficulties may be gained via studying law, especially real estate law. Civil engineering, or construction management, provides knowledge of project management, building design, and construction methods. The ideal degree program will vary depending on personal preferences, professional aspirations, and intended real estate sector job.

Good luck!

 Hello Wale! Wow, thank you for showing the different categories or avenues each type of degree offer. I will definitely have to sit down and figure out what area of study goes along with what I want to do and learn. Once again, thank you for pointing out the different real estate avenues/ degrees!

[Jacopo Iasiello]

Hi Marcos, That's awesome that you're considering furthering your education and leveraging your military tuition benefits! When it comes to choosing a college degree that aligns well with the real estate industry, there are several options to consider: 
Business Administration/Management, Finance/Economics, Real Estate/Property Management, 
Urban Planning/Development, Marketing, etc.
Ultimately, the best degree for you depends on your specific interests, career goals, and strengths. Consider exploring internships, networking opportunities, and informational interviews with professionals in the real estate industry to gain insights into different career paths and determine which degree aligns best with your aspirations. Good luck on your academic journey and future endeavors in real estate! Hope it helps! 

[Marcos Cardenas]

Hello Jacopo! Thank you for pointing out interviews with professionals. I would love to network with some more real estate professionals. I think that will help me decide on a degree. Once again, thank you for the feedback!

[Dave Spooner]

Hey Marcos, I would look into Business degrees like marketing and entrepreneurship, and look into see if your college offers real estate courses. I'm against spending money on college unless you know exactly what you want. You can also find some online courses through some junior colleges that might be a better alternative. Good luck!

[Joe S.]

If you want to make money with the degree, why not choose a degree that makes good money and simply invest in real estate with the money you make?

[Tim J.]

Quote from @Joe S.:

If you want to make money with the degree, why not choose a degree that makes good money and simply invest in real estate with the money you make?

This is the right answer. 

[Stuart Udis]

It depends on whether you foresee yourself being a passive investor or want to make owning and developing real estate your career in lieu of a W2 job. If you want to be a passive investor, my advice is to seek a degree that has the greatest earning potential (I know this is broad but the more capital and bankable you are, the more you can do passively). If you want investing to be your career, my advice would be to seek out a degree in a affiliate service industry. A degree in construction management, engineering or  architectural design come to mind as leading candidates. This gives you tools to generate revenue as you self perform projects. The degrees I noted will help you generate real estate revenues quicker and in a more connected fashion than a degree in business or finance as others have suggested. These careers will  also afford you more options to contribute to partnerships if you choose to go down that path. All in all, far greater flexibility will come from a skill set related to these degrees as someone who sees themselves as a real estate investor as their primary source of employment.

[Chris Seveney]

@Marcos Cardenas

I was a civil engineer and did construction management for many years

The education and degree and work aligned perfectly for me

[Wesley I.]

@Marcos Cardenas

Civil engineering or Accounting.

[Wale Lawal]

Quote from @Marcos Cardenas:

Quote from @Wale Lawal:

@Marcos Cardenas

Real estate careers might benefit from the information and abilities that college degrees offer. Degrees in Real Estate Studies, Finance or Economics, Management or Business Administration, Geography or Urban Planning, Law, and Civil Engineering or Construction Management are among those that are frequently pursued. The concepts, techniques, investment methods, property management, finance, urban planning, and land development of real estate are the main topics of these programs. Degrees in finance or economics offer a solid basis in investment techniques, market trends, and financial analysis.

A thorough grasp of corporate operations, leadership concepts, and strategic planning may be obtained with a degree in business administration or management. Understanding urban settings, land use patterns, and spatial analysis are the main areas of study in urban planning and geography. A thorough understanding of legal concepts, contracts, property rights, and regulatory difficulties may be gained via studying law, especially real estate law. Civil engineering, or construction management, provides knowledge of project management, building design, and construction methods. The ideal degree program will vary depending on personal preferences, professional aspirations, and intended real estate sector job.

Good luck!

 Hello Wale! Wow, thank you for showing the different categories or avenues each type of degree offer. I will definitely have to sit down and figure out what area of study goes along with what I want to do and learn. Once again, thank you for pointing out the different real estate avenues/ degrees!

My pleasure, keep learning and growing!

[Chase Taylor]

@Marcos Cardenas

I think a few other people nailed it already and as mentioned it depends on if you want to work in real estate or be an investor. That’s not to say you can’t do both.

My personal experience, I majored in economics with a focus in business analytics but what’s worked for me and I think is a good path is to major in something that will maximize your W2 earning potential and use the money to invest in real estate. I have peers that went in to a real estate career and I have built a much larger investment portfolio despite not working in real estate because my earning power is significantly higher.

I also work for a Fortune 500 so it has been helpful to understand how these types of organizations operate and translate this to my real estate investing.

Regardless of major you need to spend time building a real estate investment education. Join local meetups, read books, listen to podcasts, find a mentor once you have a base level of knowledge. You don’t have to major in real estate or finance to set up a real estate investment career.

I would be willing to bet a very small percentage of people on BP majored in specific degrees. It’s all over the map. What the ones who actually invest do share in common is going to be building an education in real estate investing totally unrelated to what they majored in.

Lastly, don’t disregard the need to build soft skills. Effective communication, emotional intelligence. The ability to work with others. You can understand real estate better than anyone else but if you can’t work with others it’s going to be tough sledding.

[Raj Mohan]

Hi Marcos,

 I see Wharton School has some online courses. I am new to RE so just sharing my findings. All the best.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/wharton-online-and-...

[Scott Mac]

None--nothing.

What you need is cash money to invest, cash money for backup needs, a strategy that works in the current market where you are investing at, and some entrepreneurial drive- guts.

Also a desire to be a landlord and be willing to do landlord type things on a daily basis would be helpful.

Good Luck

[Paul Azad]

consider undergraduate accounting degree, with Real Estate minor, this will give you foundation for anything in CRE, or even for investment banking, then fine tune with graduate school, hard to go back to school once out and earning with monthly expenses/family etc

also, so many online community college classes now available very cheap if you want to explore topics in depth

best wishes and remember success is found in the small overlap of what you enjoy doing, what you are good at doing and what can pay the rent :)

[Jeff S.]

Accounting basics being able to understand and read financial statements very valuable. Getting a degree is not totally necessary but one that can bring income is good like engineering or computer tech. A good degree is one that brings  balance into your life so there is that too. Sometimes people can be too much one way so all education is good but most important is that you can feed yourself and maybe a family. Trades can be a great way to do that. Most really successful investors I know were in the trades and/or real estate sales and are self educated and millionaires a few times over. If you are working on roofs in bad weather you might long for a way out and becoming solid financially is the way to do it. No degrees but a degree in hard knocks is nothing to ignore. Go back to school when you are rich ok too. Not everybody is cut out for college.

While you are young and energetic I would suggest both investing and school at the same time. Demanding GF's can derail you in a hurry. nothing wrong with finding a great partner though.

[Bruce Woodruff]

You don't need any degree(s) to do Real Estate. Zero. None. Nada. You need RE knowledge, Construction knowledge, Financial (Accounting) knowledge. 

These skills can be learned on the mean streets a lot faster than in a classroom, and you'll be street smart instead of book smart. And think of the wasted time.

The average time to degree is approx 5 years now. Imagine what a smart investor could do in 5 years. Shoot, you could own 10 doors and be on your way to an early retirement, my friend.

I know this will not be a popular concept here, but consider it anyway. Huge waste of time and money, and although money is a renewable resource, time is not.....

Just my $0.02

[Michael S.]

@Joe S. has the correct answer, but I will modify it slightly - "choose a degree that makes good money" but also that you are interested in or enjoy the field of study - I'd rather make less and enjoy what I do for my W-2 job than make a bit more and be miserable.   My undergrad and graduate degree have zero to do with real estate - but my W-2 income has 100% to do with real estate investing.  

[Robin Simon]

Quote from @Marcos Cardenas:

Hello BP family! Some advice and experiences from you would be appreciated. I would like to know what are some good college degrees that go hand in hand with the real estate industry. I want to go to college and fortunate to go using my military tuition but I am a little stuck on what to study. I am a rookie investor currently house hacking. What have you got a degree in and has worked for you in real estate? Thank you!

 One of the best things about real estate in my view is that you don't really need a lot of "technical" knowledge like other industries - you can just use your experience interacting with RE day to day to have a good foundation.  Doesn't really matter much for field of study if you go towards RE than other industries

[Tanner Lewis]

The usual ones, like business and economics, always work. Surprisingly, Easy Street Capital has a fair number of science majors (myself included). Just pick one that challenges you and forces you to think critically. I do not see any sociology, psychology, anthropology, gender studies, etc. majors in the real estate field. I did Biology (BS) and Economics (BA) at UVA and now work in lending. Who knew?

Honestly, school does not prepare you for work/investing nearly as much as the extracurriculars you can attend at college. I was social chair and treasurer, and I credit those two positions with giving me 95% of my real-world skills. I also went out and attended meetups. College is not necessarily the end all be all, but it does provide you with ample opportunities for refining a lot of those real-world skills. 

[Manny Vasquez]

My Engineering degree and experience managing BIG projects in Oil & Gas have greatly helped me Fix-n-Flip and manage my own properties. 

[Carlos Ptriawan]

Quote from @Marcos Cardenas:

Hello BP family! Some advice and experiences from you would be appreciated. I would like to know what are some good college degrees that go hand in hand with the real estate industry. I want to go to college and fortunate to go using my military tuition but I am a little stuck on what to study. I am a rookie investor currently house hacking. What have you got a degree in and has worked for you in real estate? Thank you!

 civil engineering

[Timothy Hero]

I'd say the best place to go for education is a local meet up and shadow someone. Seriously... why take classes and spend a fortune learning from professors who more than likely don't have wealth in RE?

You can use the costs of classes on a down payment and the time in classes can be used finding properties.

All my high net worth RE investor clients don't use their degrees at all. RE is basic math and net working. Some don't even have degrees. I don't, and I've brokered 262 mortgages in my first 3 years.