Should I get a college degree for my real estate business?

Question

I’ve been kicking the idea around about going back to school. Does anyone have any opinions on whether or not a BA in business management would help a real estate career?

Nathan Gesner · Answer

Will it help? Yes. Will it help so much that it provides a good return for the time and money invested? Unlikely.

I know quite a few REALTORS with solid degrees and tons of experience in the business world. I got into real estate at age 40 with a degree in Psychology and 21 years of military experience in a combat field. One of our most successful Brokers has a degree in marketing and no real business experience but he has a mom with 40 years in real estate to mentor him and he has some hustle.

Education is just one of many, many tools available. In the time it takes you to get a degree, you could already have a thriving business built.

Jason Shackleton · Answer

It may help. I would rather invest that money perhaps 100k into paid marketing efforts for your business. The ROI of school is not comparable to a well run marketing campaign or building a rental portfolio in my opinion.

Also my friends that went to university are now hoping to be abe to find a job to pay off their school debt in 10-20 years. I have no school debt or any debt that is not leveraged and makes me an ROI. One of my friends asked to rent one of my units. However their income was not high enough. On the flip side I am financially free for the rest of my life through the cash flow from my rental property investments.

Hope this helps tip the scales. I have a 1 year certificate from a community college. I never applied it. Not only was it a waste of money but also wasted my time the most valuable asset. This was also 10 years ago. Had I used those funds to buy an investment property I would have another asset that was 1/3 paid off, cash flowing massivly and likely three times it's original value. Instead I have a piece of paper with a stamp on it that is on the bottom of a desk drawer at my parents place collecting dust. One of my biggest mistakes thus far costing around half a million dollars of lost appreciation potential alone in my market.

Rich Dad Poor Dad explains it all.

Hope this helps

Timothy Gordon · Answer

Thanks everyone, I think I agree. I might focus on getting my re license. I feel like that’s a great education and way into the industry. I have an opportunity coming that would make this possible.

Guy Gimenez · Answer

Use your college funds for two things:

1.  real estate education that will bring a return on those funds;

2.  buying properties

College is great for the Corporate world but if you plan to take the path of an entrepreneur, I'd say you're wasting those funds, not to mention a lot of time. And yes, I have a college degree.

Mike Anderson · Answer

I say this as someone without a college degree, that has done IT engineering/architecture consulting for some fortune 100 companies. Time is money, and frankly you won't see the return on this. At this point in time I believe college degrees are very very over priced for what you get in return. Then again don't believe me, believe Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Paul Allen, Michael Dell, Richard Branson, Larry Ellison, Henry Ford, Walt Disney, Andrew Carnige, and Mark Zuckerberg... Those guys seem to be doing ok!

Allen Wu · Answer

@Timothy Gordon

Good question. Both my wife and I have graduate degrees and were blessed to self fund our degrees debt free by living way below our means.

We joke around all the time now, was it worth it? Yes, it was worth it, but not from a true ROI perspective. It will open doors on corporate world, but not sure about investments. We often wonder if we deploy 150-200k of tuition paid on couple of properties and measure against our corporate jobs, what would be a better return. I think the real estate route unless one of us decide to run a major corporation one day or be a key officer a corporate firm.

In short, I think you’re better off buying 20-30 business / real estate books, read them and couple it with podcasts and YouTube, you’ll be fine. Then deploy the $$ into solid A and B rental properties. That’s what I should have done personally.... in retrospect.

Ryan Howell · Answer

@Timothy Gordon - Agent business or investing business?  I think my answer is the same.  Would it help?  Probably.  Is it the best use of your time?  I would tend to say no.  There is so much to learn these days by reading books and listening to podcasts and networking with other investors/agents, that I struggle to see how a degree adds much value comparatively.  I have a bachelors and masters in engineering, but when I decided to start investing and when I got licensed and begin my agent business, I learned everything from books, podcasts, those around me.  You also can pay for coaching (be sure to find someone good) and/or find a good mentor.  Good luck!

Should I get a college degree for my real estate business?

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